Mystery Woman
by CoffeeDrinker
Summary: Luke/Lorelai. ''Let this mark the beginning of our secret dating escapades.'' [Complete]
1. Part 1

TITLE: "Mystery Woman"  
  
SPOILER: Takes place a few weeks after "One Has Class and the Other One Dyes."  
  
DISTRIBUTION: Please ask permission first.  
  
DISCLAIMER: All characters belong to Amy Sherman-Palladino and the WB.  
  
* * *  
  
It was slightly after six o'clock on Friday night, and Luke was in his apartment getting dressed for his date. He was nervous; he'd almost called her and canceled three different times, but each time had talked himself out of it.  
  
He was still shocked that he'd done it. It'd been so long since he'd asked anyone out on a date, but he was surprised at how easily it all came back to him.  
  
It had happened so fast. It started on Monday afternoon, during one of those quiet lulls. There was only one other customer in the diner, and Luke was bored. He had been hanging out at the counter going through some old receipts when she walked in and sat at the counter.  
  
She ordered coffee and a muffin, and while she was eating, she tried to strike up a conversation with him. At first he was just being polite, making idle chitchat with her, but after a few minutes, they started conversing casually. He'd never seen her in the diner before, but there was just something about her that appealed to him immediately.  
  
Ever since Jess had indirectly accused him of waiting around for Lorelai, he'd been thinking that maybe it was time for him to finally move on, to stop waiting for her to notice him. He'd thought about approaching her, about finally asking Lorelai out - but something stopped him. A little voice inside his head told him to give it up - that if nothing had happened between them this far, nothing probably would.  
  
So he needed to get on with his life. As much as he hated to admit it, he didn't want to be alone forever. He wanted to find someone. . . and to do that, he needed to start dating again.  
  
And then this woman came into the diner. And he talked with her, and he liked her, and when she left that day, he couldn't stop thinking about her. He scolded himself for not asking her out at the time.  
  
But then, two days later, someone decided to give him a second chance, and she came back into the diner. They talked for a little while. . .he even whipped out a little flirting. . .and eventually, worked up the nerve to ask her out.  
  
And here he was, on Friday night, getting ready for his date with her.  
  
Downstairs, Lorelai walked into Luke's for coffee before heading to Hartford for Friday night dinner. She walked quickly up to the counter and waved a few dollars toward Caesar standing at the cash register. "Two coffees to go, please," Lorelai said.  
  
"Coming right up," he replied. As he walked over to the coffee maker, Lorelai tapped her fingernails impatiently on the counter and glanced around at the other customers. She stared at a woman eating French fries with a fork, and while contemplating whether or not she should go inform her that they're finger foods, Caesar returned with her coffee. "Here you go."  
  
Lorelai turned around. "Oh, good, thanks." She handed him the money. "Here, keep the. . ." Lorelai's voice trailed off as Luke walked out from the back, looking down as he fastened his watch. Lorelai gasped. "Oh my God!"  
  
Luke, dressed in a button-down shirt and black pants, looked up and grimaced when he saw her. Knowing he was in for some mocking, he sighed loudly. "Oh, geez."  
  
Lorelai's eyes widened as she took in his outfit. "Whoa, cap-less, flannel- less, jeans-less. . .it's like Bizarro World Luke. What, are you giving another speech at the school or something? They liked you so much they decided to make it a weekly gig?"  
  
"No," he replied with a sigh. "I'm just. . .I have . . ." He stared at her for a moment, contemplating whether or not to tell her where he was going. Deciding it would probably lead to more questions he didn't want to answer, he changed the subject. "Wait, aren't you supposed to be in Hartford right now?"  
  
Lorelai glanced down at her watch. "Pretty soon, yeah, but I've got a few minutes to tease you before I have to leave."  
  
Luke rolled his eyes and walked past her. "Goodbye."  
  
Lorelai frowned. "Wait, where are you going?" She grabbed the two coffee cups from the counter and followed him.  
  
"Out." Luke walked to the door and stepped out onto the sidewalk.  
  
Lorelai slipped out the door before it closed on her, and she followed him toward his truck. "Yes, see, that's what I find morbidly fascinating, because not only do you rarely ever go out, but you never, ever dress like this. So, as you can see, given the fact that you're doing two rare things on the same night, my imagination is running rampant with possible excuses as to what's going on here."  
  
Luke pulled open the door to his truck, then turned to look at her. "Oh yeah? Like what?"  
  
"Well, the first is that you're a diner owner by day, accountant by night, and that right now you're off to audit someone," Lorelai said. "Is that it?"  
  
"No."  
  
"Okay, the second is that you're an ex-con and you have a meeting with your parole officer," Lorelai said. "Is that it?"  
  
"Nope."  
  
Lorelai wrinkled her nose. "Damn, I thought for sure it was one of those." She thought for a moment, then said, "One more guess?"  
  
Luke folded his arms across his chest. "Fine, one more."  
  
"Are all of your jeans and flannel shirts at the dry cleaners and this was the last outfit you had to wear, and so you're wearing it out of desperation and not because you actually want to wear it?" Lorelai asked.  
  
Luke rolled his eyes. "Good guess, but no." He climbed into his truck and closed the door.  
  
Lorelai stepped up to the half-opened window. "Aha, so you're wearing it voluntarily, now I know for sure that something's up. Come on, Luke, where are you going all dolled up?"  
  
Luke ignored her and started the engine, then glanced across the street and saw Rory inside of Lorelai's Jeep. He gestured toward it and said, "Look, Rory's waiting for you, you'd better get going."  
  
Lorelai frowned. "Why won't you tell me?"  
  
Luke turned to her and sighed. "Because there's no rule that says I have to tell you everything."  
  
"Uh huh," Lorelai said, nodding fervently. "It's rule number seven in the agreement you entered into when we became friends - thou shall not go out dressed up without first telling the other person."  
  
"You know, funny thing - I don't recall reading or signing anything," Luke told her.  
  
Lorelai rolled her eyes. "Duh, it's a mental agreement, Luke, because if they made friend-contracts that needed to be read and signed, it would unfairly eliminate illiterate people from entering into them."  
  
Luke took a deep breath, then pursed his lips and stared straight ahead. "Look, I'm gonna be late."  
  
Lorelai stepped back from the truck and pouted. "Okay, fine, don't tell me."  
  
"Good idea," Luke said. He pulled away, leaving a disappointed Lorelai standing on the sidewalk.  
  
Lorelai slowly crossed the street to the Jeep, and handed Rory the coffee cups through the open window. "What was the all about?" Rory asked.  
  
Lorelai opened the driver's door and climbed in. "Oh, I was trying to find out where Luke was going but he wouldn't tell me."  
  
Rory took a sip of her coffee, then asked, "Why do you care where he's going?"  
  
Lorelai started the engine and pulled away from the curb. "Because. . . didn't you see the way he was dressed?"  
  
"No, how was he dressed?"  
  
"Like he was going to church or something," Lorelai said. "So I asked him why he was all dressed up, but he wouldn't tell me."  
  
"Maybe he has a meeting at the bank," Rory suggested.  
  
Lorelai shrugged. "Maybe. But why wouldn't he tell me if it was that?"  
  
"Hm, good point," Rory replied. "Maybe business hasn't been too good lately and he has a second job somewhere and he was too embarrassed to tell you."  
  
Lorelai frowned. "Aw, I hope not. I'd feel bad thinking of him working hard on his feet all day, and then having to work more at night."  
  
"Well, we don't know if that's it or not," Rory pointed out.  
  
"Well, just in case, we should help him out by paying on a regular basis instead of just occasionally," Lorelai said.  
  
"Good idea," Rory agreed. "Let's do that."  
  
As they drove through Stars Hollow and headed toward the highway, Rory suddenly said, "Huh."  
  
"What?" Lorelai asked.  
  
"You said that Luke was all dressed up, right?"  
  
"Well, not all dressed up like he was in a tux, ready to attend some charity benefit for underprivileged monkeys, but dressed up more so than his usual plaid shirt and jeans," Lorelai clarified.  
  
Rory let out a laugh. "A charity benefit for underprivileged monkeys?"  
  
"Uh, yeah," Lorelai scoffed. "In the jungle, some primate families are more distinguished than other primate families, and so the impoverished primate families need rich people to donate money so that their monkey children can afford the same kinds of bananas that other monkey children have."  
  
Rory stared at her with wide eyes. "What the heck are you talking about?  
  
Lorelai shook her head. "I have absolutely no idea. Go on."  
  
"Okay, well, maybe he wasn't dressed up enough to go to a benefit for monkeys. . .but was he dressed up enough for . . .a date?" Rory asked.  
  
Lorelai's eyes widened and her mouth dropped open. "You think Luke went out on a date?" A small smile appeared on her lips as she pondered the possibility. "Oh my God, I didn't even think about that. Maybe Luke Danes went out on a date."  
  
"Wow, it's weird hearing those words in the same sentence," Rory said. "'Luke' and 'date'. He never goes out anywhere. At least, not that we know of."  
  
"Ooh, I bet it was a date, and he didn't wanna talk about it because he was nervous," Lorelai said. "Aw, that's so cute."  
  
"You don't know that," Rory said, rolling her eyes. "Maybe he didn't wanna talk about it because he likes his private things to stay private, and he knew that if he told you, it'd be all over town by morning."  
  
Lorelai scoffed. "I believe you're confusing me with Miss Patty, which I should take some amount of offense to."  
  
"No, I gave you more leeway than Miss Patty," Rory said. "'Cause if she found out about it, the whole town would know within the hour."  
  
"True." As she continued driving, Lorelai tried to picture what Luke would be like on a date. She imagined him sitting in a restaurant eating fruit salad and ranting about Taylor's latest scheme to better the town. She smiled to herself, then glanced over at Rory. "Hey, if he is on a date, what do you think the girl's like?"  
  
Rory narrowed her eyes. "What do you mean?"  
  
"I mean, do you think she's like him. . . a quiet, flannel-wearing, sports- loving, healthy-eating type of chic?" Lorelai asked.  
  
"You really think he'd date an exact replica of himself?" Rory asked.  
  
"Well, an exact replica with bigger boobs," Lorelai replied.  
  
Rory shrugged. "I don't know. We'll have to wait and see what she's like. . . if there even is a she. Maybe he did just have a meeting at the bank."  
  
Lorelai nodded wistfully. "Yeah, maybe."  
  
* * *  
  
The next morning, Lorelai and Rory went to Luke's for breakfast. They sat down at an empty table, and a few minutes later, Luke walked over with two cups of coffee. "Hey." He set the cups on the table.  
  
"Hey," Lorelai said.  
  
"Thanks Luke," Rory said, picking up her coffee cup. She blew on it lightly, then took a sip.  
  
Luke pulled his order pad out of his jeans. "What can I get you?"  
  
"You can get me. . .a detailed summary of where you went last night," Lorelai said, smiling up at him.  
  
Luke rolled his eyes. "Forget it. What can I get you to eat?"  
  
Lorelai frowned. "You still won't tell me? Why won't you tell me?"  
  
Luke sighed and gave her an annoyed look. "Because it doesn't matter where I went. Now, what do you guys want?"  
  
"Pancakes," Rory ordered.  
  
"Me too," Lorelai said. Luke nodded and jotted it down on his pad. As he started to walk away, Lorelai reached out and grabbed his shirt. "Wait, Luke, just a sec."  
  
He turned around and folded his arms across his chest. "What now?"  
  
"Did where you went involve a charity benefit for underprivileged monkeys?" Lorelai asked.  
  
Luke narrowed his eyes with confusion. "What?"  
  
Rory waved him off. "Never mind, Luke. Ignore her."  
  
"Gladly," he replied, giving Lorelai a bewildered look.  
  
As he started to walk away, Lorelai said, "Okay, what about this - it was a date, wasn't it?"  
  
Luke froze with his back to them, and he glanced around nervously to see if anyone else had heard. He turned around and glared momentarily at Lorelai before continuing his walk to the kitchen.  
  
Lorelai slapped her palm on the table and smiled at Rory. "Aha, did you see that? We totally figured him out."  
  
"Looks that way," Rory agreed. "Though he didn't seem too happy about it."  
  
"Well, not everyone is as impressed with our deductive skills as we want them to be," Lorelai said. "People don't like to be accused of things even when they're really doing them."  
  
"Just like you don't like to be accused of being too nosy even when you really are?" Rory suggested.  
  
"Exactly." Lorelai took a sip of her coffee, then said, "Well, this is good, because ever since we discovered that it was Bootsy who was taking the Al's Pancake World coupons out of all the Stars Hollow Gazettes, we've needed a new mystery to solve. . . and now we have one."  
  
"And what exactly is our new mystery, Sherlock?" Rory asked.  
  
Lorelai scoffed. "Are you not paying attention? Luke went on a date - this is groundbreaking news! We need to do private research and find out who it was."  
  
"Why?"  
  
"Because I want to know, that's why," Lorelai said. "I am a wealth of information about town goings-on, and I like to know about everything that is. . .ya know, going on."  
  
Rory rolled her eyes. "Okay, whatever, I'll play along."  
  
"Good, thank you."  
  
* * *  
  
A few nights later, Lorelai and Rory were walking toward the video store. As they passed by the diner, Lorelai glanced through the window, and she saw Luke talking to a woman at the counter. Lorelai stopped walking and grabbed Rory's sleeve. "Hey, wait." Rory saw Lorelai staring through the window, and she followed her gaze to Luke at the counter.  
  
Lorelai turned to Rory. "You think that's her?"  
  
Rory shrugged. "I don't know. It could very well be the mystery woman that we've been unable to find out anything about."  
  
"It's possible."  
  
"Or it could be some random customer," Rory said.  
  
"Also possible," Lorelai agreed. "How do we find out?"  
  
"Well, we could stand at the window all night and watch them to see if anything suspicious happens," Rory suggested with obvious sarcasm.  
  
"Good idea," Lorelai said, ignoring the sarcasm. "Go get us a couple of chairs, will ya?"  
  
Rory grabbed Lorelai's arm. "Come on, let's go." Lorelai frowned as Rory dragged her toward the video store.  
  
Fifteen minutes later, they walked out of the store and headed toward home, passing by the diner again. Lorelai glanced in the window, and gasped when she saw the woman still at the counter. "Oh my God, she's still there! And he's still standing there talking to her!"  
  
"So what?" Rory asked. "It's his job to be friendly to the customers."  
  
"No, I don't think that this is just some customer, I think that's her." Lorelai put a hand on her stomach. "I have this feeling in my gut that says that this is Luke's new lady friend."  
  
"I think that's just menstrual cramps," Rory told her. "I have 'em, too."  
  
Lorelai grabbed Rory's arm and pulled her toward the door. "Come on, I suddenly have an immediate need for coffee."  
  
"Oh boy," Rory muttered. She wriggled out of Lorelai's grasp and said, "I'll wait out here, thank you."  
  
Lorelai frowned at her. "Fine, I'll do my own investigating."  
  
"Good luck with that," Rory said.  
  
Lorelai walked into the diner and Luke looked up from his conversation. His eyes widened when he saw her, and an uncomfortable feeling came over him. Lorelai walked up to the counter, and soon he excused himself from the woman and walked over to Lorelai.  
  
While Lorelai ordered a coffee to go, out of the corner of her eye, she saw the woman stand up and drop some money on the counter. As she walked past the two of them, she smiled and said, "See ya, Luke."  
  
Luke glanced at Lorelai and swallowed hard, then nodded toward the woman. "Yeah, see ya." He walked over to the coffee maker as Lorelai watched the woman walk out of the diner. Out the window she saw Rory look after the woman curiously as she walked down the sidewalk.  
  
Lorelai turned back toward the counter and watched Luke, his back to her, pour her coffee into a to-go cup. She hesitated a moment, then asked nonchalantly, "So. . .Luke. . .who was that woman?"  
  
"Just a customer," Luke replied with a shrug.  
  
"A customer who knows you by name?" Lorelai pressed.  
  
Luke walked over with the coffee. "Everyone knows me by name," he said. "It's on the front of the building and all the menus."  
  
Lorelai nodded. "Right, right." She handed him some money, then lingered at the counter for a moment. "So. . .I don't think I've seen her in here before."  
  
Luke stuck the money in the cash register. "So what?"  
  
Lorelai shrugged. "Oh, nothing . . .I was just making an observation." She tapped her fingernails on the counter. "So that was just a regular customer. . .no one special. . .no one you happened to hang out with on Friday night?"  
  
Luke smirked as he picked up a rag and began wiping down the counter.  
  
Lorelai smiled and narrowed her eyes at him. "What's that smile for?"  
  
Luke shrugged. "It's just interesting that you're still dwelling on me going out on Friday."  
  
"Because you're my friend and I like to know what's up with you, that's all," Lorelai said with a shrug.  
  
"Uh huh."  
  
"Come on, just tell me, as your friend, was she part of the mystery 'Friday night dressing up and going out' thing?" Lorelai asked. "Then I promise no more questions about it."  
  
Luke stared at her for a few seconds, contemplating whether to answer her. He knew she'd just keep bugging him about it until he gave in. . .and even he knew that he'd eventually give in to her. He always did.  
  
He resumed wiping the counter as he muttered a sheepish, "Yes."  
  
Lorelai's eyes widened. "She was? You guys went out on a date? Where'd you go? What's her name?"  
  
"You said no more questions," Luke reminded her. He pointed toward the door. "Goodbye."  
  
Lorelai frowned. "Aw, please, just tell me her name, and I promise I'll leave without asking any other questions about it. . . and if I do, you can refuse to serve me coffee for the rest of the month and I won't complain."  
  
"That's highly doubtful."  
  
Lorelai pouted her lips and pressed her palms together as she begged, "Please, just a name?"  
  
Luke sighed. "Leslie, okay? Her name is Leslie."  
  
Lorelai smiled. "Aw, is she - " She suddenly clapped a hand over her mouth to stop herself from asking any questions. She removed her hand and smiled at him. "No more questions, right. Bye Luke."  
  
"Bye." Luke watched her as she picked up her coffee cup and walked toward the door.  
  
As she stepped onto the sidewalk, Lorelai found Rory waiting impatiently by the streetlight. "Ooh, I have gossip!" Lorelai said excitedly. "Okay, yes, that was the woman he went out with on Friday, and her name is Leslie. Ah, I can't believe I got him to give me information!"  
  
Rory had a small smile on her face, and she put her hands on Lorelai's shoulders. "Mom, did you look at that woman?"  
  
"Uh, yeah. That's the whole reason I went in there in the first place," Lorelai reminded her. They both started walking down the sidewalk toward their house.  
  
"And you didn't notice anything familiar about her?" Rory asked.  
  
"Not really," Lorelai said with a shrug. "Why, did you?"  
  
Rory let out a laugh. "Mom, she looked exactly like you!"  
  
Lorelai turned to her and scoffed loudly. "What? You're crazy. She looked nothing like me."  
  
Rory stopped walking and grabbed Lorelai's arm. "Mom, I've been looking at you for eighteen years, I know what you look like - and that woman looks just like you - same hair, same blue eyes, she's even the same height as you."  
  
"Rory, her hair was pulled back in a ponytail," Lorelai pointed out. "Mine's not."  
  
"Yeah, not now, but when it is in a ponytail, it looks just like it did on that woman," Rory replied.  
  
"Leslie," Lorelai reminded her.  
  
"Leslie." Rory shook her head in disbelief and let out a laugh. "Oh my God, I can't believe you didn't notice it. And I wonder why we've never seen her before. . . you'd think we'd know by now if you had a twin walking around Stars Hollow."  
  
"I still think you're crazy," Lorelai said. "So she's a tall brunette . . . there are a lot of us in the world."  
  
"Yeah, well, I swear, if my vision was just a tad blurry, I probably would've accidentally called her Mom," Rory said.  
  
Lorelai rolled her eyes. "You're completely insane. Let's go home." Lorelai started walking down the sidewalk, and Rory followed behind her.  
  
"Next time you see her, you take a good look at her," Rory said. "I bet you'll see it."  
  
  
  
  
  
To be continued. . . 


	2. Part 2

"Mystery Woman – part 2"

Author's Note: Thanks so much for all the reviews, I really appreciate them. :)

* * *

As they continued walking home, Lorelai tried not to think about Rory's observation. She wracked her brain trying to find something else to think about, but after a brief conversation with herself about which _Back to the Future _movie was her favorite, her mind drifted back to Luke. . .and Leslie.

__

She looks nothing like me, Lorelai told herself. 

So they both have dark hair and blue eyes – so what? Millions of people have dark hair and blue eyes, and they don't all look the same. Lorelai glanced toward Rory. _She's crazy. It's dark out. She couldn't have seen her clearly. Maybe she needs glasses. All of that reading she does has probably affected her eyesight in some way._

Lorelai walked a few more steps before her internal conversation took another turn. _But let's pretend for one tiny moment that she did look like me. . . so what? It's no big deal. It wouldn't mean anything._

But as much as she told herself that, she knew what the townspeople would say if something like that happened. She knew that they'd throw that 'he has a thing for you' stuff in her face again, and use this as visual evidence to support their accusations. But she would be prepared for them, and she would convince them that they were wrong. 

__

Luke can date whoever he wants, she thought. _And if he wants to date someone who looks like me. . .then fine. Let him. No big deal. It doesn't mean anything. If I date a guy who looks like Mel Gibson, it doesn't mean I really want to date Mel Gibson. _

Lorelai paused a moment and nibbled nervously on her bottom lip. 

__

Or does it? 

She thought for a moment, then shook her head. _No, it doesn't_, she decided. 

It just means that she likes the way that Mel Gibson looks, not that she specifically wants to date him. So the most that a situation like that could _possibly_ mean is that. . .Luke likes the way she looks.

Lorelai's eyes widened. _Uh oh. Is that what it means? Does Luke like the way I look? _She didn't like the sound of that – it was almost too supportive of the town's theory, because him liking the way she looks, and him wanting to date her, were kind of related. 

She thought it over for a few seconds before she shook her head slightly to bring her back to reality. _None of it matters anyway because that woman doesn't look like me. She doesn't._

As they walked up their driveway, Lorelai sighed loudly and glanced at Rory. "Hey?"

Rory turned to look at Lorelai. "Yeah?"

Lorelai stared at her for a moment. She wanted to ask, 'What does it mean if Luke dates someone who kind of, _possibly, _might look just a teeny, tiny bit like me?' 

But she didn't. 

Instead, she looked up toward the sky and said, "Nice night, huh?"

Rory gave Lorelai a curious look, but slowly nodded. "Yeah, it's nice." They walked up the front steps and into the house.

* * *

Over the next few days, whenever Lorelai went into the diner, she would scan it to look for Leslie. She wanted to get another look at her, to see if there really was any sort of resemblance, to see if what Rory had said had any substance to it. But Leslie was never in there. 

She wanted to ask Luke about her, to ask how many times they'd gone out, to ask if they even _were_ still going out, to ask if she lived around here, to ask a million other questions about her. . . but she couldn't. She had told him she wouldn't pry, and despite the difficulty of it, she was trying to keep her word. So, as much as she wanted to, she never mentioned Leslie or the date. 

It was almost a week before she saw her again. On Saturday night, Lorelai and Rory were walking to the movie theater when Lorelai glanced across the town square and saw Luke and Leslie walk out of the diner. Lorelai stopped walking and grabbed Rory's arm. "There she is!" she hissed.

"Who? Where?" Rory asked, looking around.

"Leslie," Lorelai whispered, gesturing toward the diner. "With Luke. I guess they're still going out. I haven't seen her in like a week." 

Rory narrowed her eyes at Lorelai. "You've been looking for her?"

Lorelai wrinkled her nose. The truthful answer would've been, _Yes, I have, because I have an obsessive need to see if this woman really does look like me. And if she does, I need to sit down with several pints of Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough ice cream and try to figure out what that means. And while we're at it, let's try to figure out _why_ I care so much about what it means. And, by the way, I think I need help because not only have I become unusually obsessed with Luke's personal life, but I also have long in-depth conversations inside my head._

But instead, Lorelai scoffed and said, "No, I haven't been _looking_ for her. . .it's just an observation." She gestured toward the lamppost. "I haven't seen the Troubadour around here in a few days, but it doesn't mean I'm _looking_ for him. It just means that I haven't _seen_ him around. It's an observation. There's a difference." 

Lorelai watched Luke and Leslie walk down the street, both of them casually dressed in jeans and jackets. They were too far away for Lorelai to get a good look at her, but the one thing she did note was that they weren't holding hands – and she tried to ignore the fact that it made her feel relieved. "Where do you think they're going?"

Rory followed Lorelai's gaze. "I don't know. Maybe we should follow them and find out," Rory suggested.

Lorelai's eyes widened and she waved a finger at Rory. "Ooh, good idea, yes!" She grabbed Rory's arm and started pulling her down the sidewalk. "Let's go."

Rory rolled her eyes and planted her feet firmly on the ground. "Mom, I was kidding."

Lorelai cringed slightly as she suddenly realized how obsessive it would've been to follow Luke and his date around town. She turned back to Rory and forced a laugh. "Oh yeah, me too," she said, waving it off casually. Lorelai turned around and watched them some more, and her eyes widened as she saw them heading toward the theater. "Oh my God, they're going to the movie, too."

Rory started walking to the theater. "Okay, so we _are_ following them. Let's go."

Lorelai walked quickly to catch up to Rory. "Do you think she lives in town? I mean, we never see her around. Not that I've been looking. . .I just - "

"I know, I know – you observed it," Rory finished, rolling her eyes. 

"Maybe she came here as a spy from another town to try to find out what our next town function's gonna be so that she can get her town to do it first, thus making us look like copycats," Lorelai suggested. 

Rory glanced at Lorelai skeptically. "Uh, yeah, that could be true."

"It'd be like our own little version of Alias," Lorelai said. "Ooh, maybe she has a bunch of secret gadgets. . .like maybe her lip gloss has a secret chemical in it that'll make Luke give her all the dirt on the town when she kisses him." Lorelai's eyes widened slightly, and she swallowed hard.

__

When she kisses him, Lorelai repeated in her head. A weird feeling came over her, like someone had just told her that they were discontinuing Snickers bars. She wondered if they'd kissed. . .and if they were passionate kisses or little pecks. . .and where the first kiss had happened, if the first kiss _had_ already happened. Maybe it hadn't. Then she stopped wondering about them kissing and tried to figure out _why_ she was so concerned with them kissing. 

Rory's voice snapped Lorelai out of her daze. "Mom?"

"Huh?"

"You wanna actually come inside, or you wanna stand out here and listen to the movie from the steps?" Rory asked, gesturing to the door that she was holding open for Lorelai.

"Oh, sorry." Lorelai walked up the steps and into the theater.

* * *

Lorelai and Rory found seats in the back of the theater, a few rows behind Luke and Leslie. Lorelai stared at the back of their heads, trying to convince herself that the feeling in the pit of her stomach was caused by hunger and not jealousy. She shoved a handful of popcorn into her mouth and chewed it slowly. She stared at them, watched them converse casually, wondered what they were talking about. 

Then it happened. . .Luke laughed. Out loud. Lorelai was surprised to hear it – it wasn't a sound that she heard very often. She took this as a sign that Luke must be happy. . . a realization that should've, in turn, made her happy _for_ him. 

But instead, her nostrils flared as she stared at the back of the head of the woman who was making him happy. . . the woman who wasn't Lorelai. _I can make him laugh, too, you know,_ Lorelai mentally conveyed to Leslie. _Don't think you're all special because you moseyed into town and made him – _

"You know, you're gonna bore a hole into the back of her head if you keep staring like that," Rory pointed out, interrupting Lorelai's thoughts.

Lorelai glanced down at her popcorn container. "I'm not staring at anything," she muttered.

"Uh huh," Rory replied. She glanced toward the front of the room, then back at Lorelai. She put her hand on Lorelai's cheek and pushed her face toward the left. "Huh."

Lorelai turned back to her and narrowed her eyes. "What are you doing?" 

"The back of your head looks just like hers," Rory said, nodding toward the front of the room.

Lorelai rolled her eyes. "Stop it." She ran her fingers through her hair and settled back in her seat. "She doesn't look like me."

"You still can't see the resemblance?" Rory asked.

"I haven't seen her face up close yet, I've only seen her from behind," Lorelai explained. "So the only thing I know is that my butt looks better in jeans than hers does."

"Why were you looking at her butt?" Rory asked.

"To see if mine looks better in jeans than hers does," Lorelai replied as if it was obvious. "And it does."

"So, you're comparing yourself to the woman that Luke's dating," Rory observed with a smile. "Interesting."

"Tsk, no," Lorelai scoffed. "Not interesting."

"Someone seems jealous," Rory teased.

"Stop it," Lorelai admonished. The lights started to dim and Lorelai turned to face the screen. "The movie's starting. No more talking."

"Why are – "

"Shhhhh!" Lorelai hushed her loudly. They both turned their attention to the front of the room – but only one of them was watching the movie.

* * *

The movie ended and the lights came back on, and Rory stood up to leave. Lorelai grabbed her shirt and pulled her back down. "Wait a minute."

"Geez, watch the shirt," Rory complained, pulling the fabric out of Lorelai's hand.

"Tsk, it's mine anyway," Lorelai replied.

"Why are we still sitting?" Rory asked.

Lorelai didn't answer. Her gaze was fixated on Leslie. She was waiting for her to get up and turn around so she could finally get a good look at her.

Rory followed her gaze and nodded knowingly. "Ah. You know, I'm pretty sure that you're bordering on stalking."

Lorelai scoffed. "I don't think that looking at someone is the same thing as stalking them."

"This is how it starts," Rory said. "Pretty soon I can see you reenacting scenes from V_anilla Sky_."

"Uh, I think you're overreacting just a – " Her voice trailed off as she saw Luke stand up and stretch his arms over his head. Leslie stood up, and Lorelai prepared for her to turn around. _This is it, the moment of truth. _

Leslie turned around to pick up her coat from her seat, and Lorelai finally got her first good glimpse of her face. 

__

She's pretty, Lorelai reluctantly admitted to herself. She didn't want her to be pretty. She didn't know why, exactly, but part of her was hoping that she would have warts or acne or some hideous scar going across her entire face. 

But she didn't. Her face was wart-free, acne-free, and scar-free. Her wavy brown hair was pulled back from her face with a barrette on either side. Her T-shirt stopped just above the waist of her jeans, exposing a small strip of her stomach. She pulled on her jacket, and she and Luke started walking up the aisle. 

When they had passed their row, Lorelai gasped and turned to Rory. "Oh my God, it's like looking in a mirror!"

"See? I told you!" 

Lorelai rolled her eyes. "I'm kidding." She shrugged. "I still don't see it. Yes, I see the similar-looking brown hair, but I'm sorry. . .I don't think she's my separated-at-birth twin sister like you seem to think she is."

Rory frowned. "You just don't _want_ to see it, that's why you . . ." Her eyes wandered across the theater, and she smiled. "I think we need another opinion." Rory stood up and started walking across the theater. 

When Lorelai realized she was walking toward Miss Patty, she suddenly jumped up and rushed over to her. "Whoa, whoa, whoa. What are you doing?" she asked, grabbing Rory's arm.

"I'm going to ask Miss Patty what she thinks," Rory said.

Lorelai grabbed Rory's arm and pulled her toward the door. "No way in hell are you doing that. That's like feeding the Gremlins after midnight – only bad things can come from it."

As they walked out of the theater, Lorelai saw Luke standing on the sidewalk alone. They walked up to him and Lorelai tapped him on the shoulder. "Hey."

Luke turned around and nodded toward them. "Oh, hey."

Lorelai smiled. "So, you enjoy the movie?"

Luke nodded. "Yup"

"Good. We did, too." The three of them stood there quietly for a moment, and Lorelai eyed him curiously, trying to determine whether or not to pursue the line of questioning she had in mind. Finally, she casually said, "So, I. . .uh, I noticed you were sitting next to someone in there. . .Leslie, right? Was that her name?" 

Rory rolled her eyes and folded her arms across her chest. She decided to just stand back and see how far her mother would go with this.

Luke nodded. "Yeah, that's right."

"So, what happened to her?" Lorelai asked. "Did she go home?"

"Nope, she's over there." Luke pointed down the sidewalk.

Lorelai glanced in the direction he'd pointed and saw Leslie talking on a cell phone. "Oh." She turned back to Luke. "So, does she live in town?"

"Uh, no, actually, she doesn't." Luke shoved his hands into his pockets and shifted his feet uncomfortably as he glanced away. He wasn't giving up any more information than was necessary to answer her questions.

Lorelai gave a sideways glance toward Rory and mouthed, "Spy."

Rory rolled her eyes, then cleared her throat. "So, uh, ready to go, Mom?"

Lorelai gave Rory a Look. _No!, _she wanted to shout. She was trying to stall around long enough for Leslie to walk back over so she could meet her. Couldn't Rory tell that? And this kid was supposed to go to an Ivy League school?

"Uh, yeah, just a second," Lorelai replied. She turned back to Luke and smiled. "So. . .how have things been? I haven't seen you in awhile."

Luke narrowed his eyes at her. "I saw you today at lunch."

Lorelai nodded. "Right, yeah, but we didn't really get to talk."

"_We_ didn't get to talk, but I do recall _you_ babbling incessantly about how much better a cream-filled cupcake is than a regular cupcake," Luke said.

Lorelai smiled. "You were listening to that? You looked like you were ignoring me."

"Yeah, well, I was trying, but it's hard to do when you're sitting right there at the counter," Luke pointed out. Lorelai saw Luke glance past her, and she turned to follow his gaze. Leslie was walking toward them. 

Lorelai and Rory glanced at each other, sharing a "we're finally gonna meet her"look. Lorelai glanced back at Luke, who had an uncomfortable look on his face. 

Leslie smiled as she reached them. "Sorry for taking so long," she said to Luke. 

"Oh, that's okay," Luke said. "No problem."

Leslie smiled awkwardly at Lorelai and Rory. "Uh, hi."

Luke cleared his throat. "Oh, uh, Leslie, this is Lorelai and Rory," he said, pointing them out.

Rory gave her a shy wave. "Hi."

Lorelai smiled and extended her hand. "Hi, nice to meet you."

"Same here," Leslie replied, shaking her hand. She gestured to Lorelai's shirt, which featured the Superman symbol on the chest. "Cool shirt."

Lorelai quickly glanced down at it before she replied, "Oh, thanks."

"And those shoes are great – I have a pair just like them," Leslie commented. "They're really comfortable, huh?"

Lorelai glanced down at them. "Oh, yeah, they are, they're great."

Leslie looked up at Luke. "So, you ready?"

"Yeah, let's go," he replied. He nodded toward Lorelai and Rory. "See you guys tomorrow?"

Lorelai nodded. "Yeah, probably." She smiled at Leslie. "Nice meeting you."

"Yup, same here," she replied. She and Luke started walking down the sidewalk.

When they were several feet away, the smile disappeared from Lorelai's face. "Oh my God, could that woman be any more obnoxious?" she whispered loudly.

Rory let out a surprised laugh. "What? She was perfectly nice."

Lorelai snickered. "Oh, she's such a phony. When you compliment someone you just met like that, it's because you're trying to make a nice first impression, not because you really mean it." 

"And what's wrong with trying to make a nice first impression?" Rory asked.

"Nothing, but if she says she likes my shirt and my shoes, I'd like it to be because she actually likes them and not because she's trying to be nice," Lorelai said. "I don't like fake compliments."

"You don't know that they were fake," Rory pointed out.

Lorelai scoffed and nodded knowingly. "Oh, I know. . .trust me. And I have a feeling a couple of other things were fake, too."

Rory let out a surprised laugh. "Mom!"

"Lorelai, dear!" a voice called from behind them. 

They both turned around and saw Miss Patty walking toward them. 

"Hey Patty," Lorelai said. "What's up?"

"Who is that woman?" Patty asked, gesturing down the sidewalk toward Luke and Leslie. 

"Oh. . .uh, Luke's date," Lorelai replied, snarling her nose slightly. "Leslie."

"Is she a relative of yours?" Patty asked.

Rory smiled. "Aha! You see it, too, don't you? Doesn't she look like Mom?"

Patty placed her hand on Lorelai's shoulder. "When I saw the two of them walking out of the theater, I almost fainted. I thought he'd finally gotten up the courage to ask you out."

Lorelai rolled her eyes. "For the millionth time, he doesn't want to ask me out. If he did, he would've done it by now."

"Whatever you say, dear," Patty said, giving Rory a knowing look. "Oh, the town's just gonna eat this up! I wonder if Luke realizes the resemblance."

"Uh, probably not, because there is no resemblance," Lorelai said.

"I don't know. My bet is that he has subconsciously blocked it out like Mom did," Rory replied.

Lorelai groaned. "Look, Luke is dating someone and he seems happy, so let's stop imagining that she looks like me and just be happy for him, okay?"

"Okay, okay. Well, give me the scoop – what's she like? Was she nice?" Patty asked.

"She seemed friendly," Rory replied.

Lorelai shrugged and muttered, "Eh, she was okay."

Miss Patty eyed her with a smirk. "Looks like someone was bitten by the jealousy bug, huh?" she said, nudging Rory's shoulder.

"Tell me about it," Rory replied with a nod.

Lorelai checked her watch. "Oh, would you look at the time? Saturday Night Live starts in three hours. We better hurry home and get ready to watch it," she said. She grabbed Rory's arm and pulled her down the sidewalk. "Bye Patty."

"Bye girls," Patty called.

When they were a few feet away, they slowed down their pace, and Lorelai let go of Rory's arm with a loud sigh. She shoved her hands in her pockets and stared down at the sidewalk as they continued walking home.

* * *

To be continued. . . 

Well, you know me, I'm a feedback freak, so please review if you have time. : )


	3. Part 3

"Mystery Woman – _part 3_"

* * *

Lorelai and Rory walked home from the movie in silence until Rory glanced over at her mom and hesitantly asked, "So. . .are you?" 

Lorelai had been staring down at the sidewalk, unconsciously chewing on the inside of her cheek. "Am I what?" she replied without looking up.

"Jealous," Rory replied. "Of Leslie."

Lorelai's mouth dropped open as she looked at Rory. She scoffed loudly as if the accusation was the most ridiculous thing in the world. "No!" 

Rory tilted her head doubtfully. "Mom. . ."

"No," Lorelai repeated more sternly. "I'm not." She scoffed again and shook her head toward the ground. "Geez."

Rory raised her hands in defeat. "Okay, okay, sorry." They walked a bit further before she added, "It just kind of seems like you are."

"Well, I'm not," Lorelai muttered.

"Well, then. . .are you jealous of Luke?" Rory persisted with the questioning, trying to understand why her mom had been acting weird lately.

Lorelai stopped walking and stared at Rory with a confused look. "Why would I be jealous of Luke?"

Rory turned to her and sighed softly. "I don't know, maybe because. . . seeing him in a relationship and seeing him happy is making you jealous that you're not dating anyone right now and . . ." Rory shrugged as her voice trailed off. "I don't know. . .maybe you wish you were."

Lorelai rolled her eyes and started walking down the sidewalk. "I don't think so."

Rory followed behind her. "Okay, fine."

"Let's just drop it. I'm not jealous of anything or anyone."

"Fine. Consider it dropped."

"Thank you."

* * *

A few mornings later, Lorelai walked down the steps and saw Rory searching around the living room for something. "What's up?"

"Have you seen my biology book?" Rory asked, looking under the couch. "I know I had it on the couch last night."

"Yes."

Rory stood up straight. "You did? Where is it?"

Lorelai walked over to her. "Well, earlier, your English book was talking to your math book, and your English book was being a showoff by using all these really big words that the math book didn't understand, and the math book got really upset and went outside to sulk. Poor thing," Lorelai added with a frown.

Rory rolled her eyes. "Lovely, creative anecdote, but that doesn't explain where the biology book is."

"The biology book is outside consoling the math book," Lorelai said, gesturing toward the front door.

Rory sighed. "No help at all."

Lorelai walked past her toward the kitchen. "That's the second time your English book has done that this week. You should teach him some manners."

"I promise I'll talk to him later," Rory called.

"Good." Lorelai grabbed her purse from the kitchen table and started rummaging through it, looking for her lipstick.

"Aha!" Rory's voice called from the living room. "Found it." She walked into the kitchen with the book, and she glanced at the clock. "Ooh, and just in time, too. I'm gonna miss my bus."

Lorelai frowned. "Aw, no Luke's today?"

"No time, sorry," Rory said as she walked into her room. 

Lorelai walked over to the hallway mirror and applied her lipstick. She returned the tube to her purse, then peeked into Rory's bedroom. "All right, I'm leaving."

Rory was standing at the mirror tying her tie, and she turned to Lorelai. "Have a good day."

Lorelai nodded. "You, too. See ya tonight."

* * *

Lorelai walked to the diner, but before going inside, she peeked through the window and surveyed the crowd. 

__

No Leslie, she noted to herself. Not that it surprised her, since she now knew that Leslie didn't live in town. . . but even that knowledge didn't stop her from always keeping an eye out for her.

Lorelai had tried to sit down and have a talk with herself about this new. . .what some would call, obsession. She had thought things out and tried to find some sort of reasoning behind the way she was acting, the way she was feeling. But that had been unsuccessful – she couldn't come up with an explanation. 

Well, not an explanation that she was open to accepting. 

Her brain had thought up numerous ideas, but she'd dismissed them all. Then she decided to just forget it, to just go on as normal, to let the so-called obsession phase itself out. Just like she did with her Vanilla Coke addiction. Or her obsession with the Game Show Network. She'd grown out of those phases, and she'd eventually grow out of this one. So, until then, she decided to just go with it. 

She walked into the diner and sat down at the counter. As she set her purse on the stool next to her, she caught a glimpse of Luke through the kitchen doorway. He was standing at the stove, a spatula in his hand, an apron tied around his waist, his flannel shirt sleeves rolled up to reveal his strong forearms. 

Lorelai exhaled softly and glanced down at the counter. She began fidgeting with the button on her leather jacket, and did so until a voice interrupted her. "Hey."

Lorelai looked up and smiled at Luke. "Hi."

He wiped down the section of counter in front of her. "Coffee?"

Lorelai nodded. "And a blueberry muffin."

"You got it." Luke turned around and retrieved the muffin, then set the plate in front of her. 

Lorelai glanced quizzically at the muffin. "Hm, it's smaller than usual," she said, holding it up and surveying its size. "It's almost practically bite sized."

Luke raised his eyebrows with amusement. "If that's what you call bite sized, you've got one hell of a bite." He turned around to get her coffee, and when he turned back to her, he was surprised to see that the muffin was gone from her plate – and her puffed-up cheeks tipped him off as to where it had gone. He set the mug in front of her, then shook his head slightly. "God. . . I don't wanna know how you fit that whole thing in your mouth."

Lorelai finished chewing, and as she swallowed down the last of the muffin, she grinned at him. "Impressive, huh? My mouth stretches to accommodate things of all sizes." Lorelai froze momentarily as she realized how crudely that could be interpreted. _Oh my God, did I really just say that?_

Luke's eyes widened with surprise and he quickly glanced down at his order pad. _Did she really just say that?_ He cleared his throat uncomfortably. "Oh. . .well, that's. . ." His voice trailed off, and he busied himself by scribbling something down on the pad. 

Lorelai grimaced when she noticed his slight discomfort, and she stammered, "Uh, I didn't mean. . .I just. . .you know. . ." She wrinkled her nose and quickly tried to change the subject. She tapped her fingernails on the counter and casually said, "So, uh, that Leslie seems. . . nice. You know, from the other night at the movies. She was. . .nice." 

Luke glanced at her curiously, as if trying to deduce whether she was being serious or not. "Yeah, she is. She's nice," he agreed.

Lorelai nodded. "That's good. . .that's nice that she's. . .uh, a nice person. Nice people are. . .you know, nice to be around." She picked up her coffee and took a long sip, hoping that somehow it would miraculously provide her with another adjective besides nice. 

Luke narrowed his eyes at her. "Uh huh." He walked over to the register and flipped through a pile of receipts on the counter next to it.

Lorelai set her coffee down and stared at the mug. After a few moments, she looked up at him and cleared her throat. "So. . . things are good with you guys?" She took another sip of coffee. _You know he doesn't want to talk about it,_ she told herself._ So leave him alone before he gets mad at you._

Luke didn't look up as he shrugged and replied, "Yeah, they're fine."

"Good. That's good." Lorelai reached into her purse and pulled out some money. She set it on the counter and stood up. "I gotta go." Luke nodded, and Lorelai took one last sip of her coffee. "Bye."

"See ya." Luke watched as Lorelai grabbed her purse and walked out of the diner, passing Kirk on his way in. 

Kirk walked up to the counter and sat in the seat Lorelai had occupied just moments before. 

"What can I get you, Kirk?" Luke asked, flipping to a new page in his order pad.

Kirk glanced toward the door. "Was that your girlfriend?"

Luke narrowed his eyes at him. "What?"

"Who was that woman?"

Luke was obviously confused by why Kirk would ask that about Lorelai. "What, do you have amnesia or something? You don't recognize Lorelai?"

"Oh, that was Lorelai," Kirk said with a nod. "Okay. I thought so, but I wasn't sure how accurate the rumor about your girlfriend was."

Luke's eyes widened. He dropped the pad in front of him and leaned forward with both palms on the counter. "What rumor?" he demanded.

Kirk swallowed hard and leaned back with slight nervousness. "Uh. . .the rumor that your girlfriend might bear a slight resemblance to Lorelai. Actually, I heard it was more than a slight resemblance. . .it's that they're practically twins." 

Luke scoffed as he stood up straight. "What?"

"Uh, yeah," Kirk said hesitantly. "Patty said – "

"Patty?" Luke interrupted. "You're gonna believe something that Patty says?"

"Well, she does seem to know a lot of info about the town," Kirk said. 

"No, she seems to _make up_ a lot of info about the town," Luke corrected him. He slapped his hand on the counter. "Dammit, why is she spreading rumors?"

"So it's not true?" Kirk asked.

"Of course it's not true," Luke spat back. "They look nothing alike."

"Because if it is true, it might be representative of some sort of hidden – "

"It's not true, Kirk," Luke interrupted, holding up his hand for him to stop talking. Luke sighed and turned toward the kitchen. "Caesar, I'm going upstairs for a few minutes." He took off his apron and dropped it on the counter, then walked into the back and went up to his apartment.

He shook his head. _She doesn't look like Lorelai. She doesn't. Just because two people have the same color hair does not mean that they look alike. _ "This whole town needs to be committed," he muttered as he pushed open the door to the apartment.

Jess was at the table eating breakfast, and he watched Luke walk in and collapse on the couch. "What's wrong with you?" he asked as he shoveled a spoonful of cereal into his mouth.

Luke waved him off. "Nothing. . .just the people in this stupid town are. . ."

"Insane?" Jess suggested.

"Yes."

"What'd they do now?" 

Luke took a deep breath and walked over to the table. "You've met Leslie."

"Yeah, so?"

Luke sat down next to Jess and tapped his hands on the table for a few seconds. He looked up at Jess and hesitantly asked, "You think she looks like. . .anyone you know?"

Jess smirked and glanced down at his bowl. 

Luke groaned and leaned back in his chair. He stared up at the ceiling and muttered, "Not you, too."

"Sorry, but it's true."

"No, it's not. She doesn't look anything like her."

"What's the big deal?" Jess asked with a shrug. "Why does it matter?"

"It doesn't matter, and the reason it doesn't matter is because they don't look alike," Luke insisted sternly.

Jess thought for a moment, then said, "No, actually they – "

"Go to school," Luke interrupted, pointing toward the door.

As Jess walked over to grab his books, he said, "You know, this might work out good for you. I've heard that doing it with twins is – "

"Jess!" Luke snapped.

"And this might be the closest you ever come to that." 

"School!"

Jess smirked as he walked out of the apartment. Luke leaned forward and stretched his arms out in front of him on the table. Did the rumor have any truth to it? 

"_Do_ they look alike?" he mumbled aloud. He cocked his head to the side and stared up into space, trying to picture the two women. After a few seconds, he shook his head definitively. "No, they don't." 

With that declaration, he pounded his fist lightly on the table and stood up. "They have similar hair, that's it, that's all. Let's just forget about it. Let's not talk about it anymore." He glanced around the empty apartment, then rolled his eyes at himself. "And stop talking to yourself," he muttered as he walked to the door.

* * *

That afternoon, Lorelai was at the front desk of the Independence Inn going through a stack of mail. She glanced over at Michel, who was standing a few feet away working on the computer, and she suddenly remembered something. "Oh, Michel, I almost forgot. Did you call – "

"Yes, I did," Michel interrupted, not looking away from the computer screen.

Lorelai scoffed. "How do you even know what I'm gonna ask?"

Michel turned to her with a sigh. "You were going to ask if I called the repairman to come look at the broken treadmill."

Lorelai gasped with surprise. "How did you know that?"

"Because you've asked me that three times this morning already," Michel responded in an annoyed tone. "And if you ask me it again, I'm going to call him up and tell him not to come just so that you can call him back yourself, and then maybe you will stop asking me that question." Michel huffed as he turned back to the computer.

Lorelai shrugged and turned back to her pile of mail. "Sorry. . .my mind must be somewhere else today," she muttered.

"No kidding," he snickered.

Lorelai leaned forward on the front desk and stared out across the lobby. Her mind _was_ somewhere else. Her mind was on Luke. Her mind was on Leslie. She found herself thinking about them constantly. And – since living in denial was one of her greatest talents – she still didn't know why. 

* * *

Luke tried to forget about the stupid rumor, but he couldn't. The thought was always there, in the back of his mind. Whenever a townie walked into the diner, he'd find himself wondering whether they'd heard the rumor.

And then he started wondering if Lorelai had heard it. And if she had, what did she think about it? Did _she_ think that Leslie looked like her? And if so, what did she think it all meant? 

But Luke, like Lorelai, still denied to himself, and to anyone who brought it up, that there was a strong resemblance between the two women. 

Until Thursday night.

On Thursday night, Lorelai and Rory walked into the diner. It was almost seven, and they'd stopped by on their way home from the video store to pick up some coffees to go. As they were standing at the counter waiting for Caesar to pour the coffee, the bell on the door jingled. Rory turned to see who had entered, and her eyes widened slightly. She subtly nudged Lorelai and nodded toward the door.

Lorelai picked up the coffee cup that Caesar had just placed in front of her, then turned to look toward the door. She swallowed hard as she saw Leslie approaching them. Rory picked up her coffee and took a sip as she gave Lorelai a sideways glance.

Leslie stopped in front of them and smiled. "Hey. . . uh, I don't know if you remember me, but we met the other night. . ."

Lorelai nodded. "Leslie, right?" she asked casually, acting as if she _hadn't_ been thinking about her almost every day since she'd met her.

Leslie gave an impressed nod. "Wow, good memory." 

Lorelai tapped the side of her head as she held up her coffee cup. "Yes, well, studies show that drinking a cup of coffee a day can increase memory ability. And since I drink about twelve times that a day . . ."

Leslie smiled. "Wow, that's some super human memory you must have." She stared at them a moment, then shook her head slightly. "I'm sorry, what were your names again?"

"Uh oh. Looks like someone needs more coffee in their diet," Lorelai replied with a smile.

Leslie reluctantly admitted, "Yeah, I guess so. I tend to stick to hot chocolate."

"I'm Rory," Rory piped up. "She's Lorelai."

Leslie nodded and folded her arms across her chest. "Right, right – Rory and Lorelai, now I remember. I meant to say the other night what great names they are. You don't hear those very often."

"Yes, well, we are very original people," Lorelai declared.

Rory turned to her with a smirk. "Well, not really, considering I'm named after you and you're named after your grandmother." She turned to Leslie. "I'm Lorelai, too. Rory's just a nickname."

"Shh," Lorelai hushed her, then turned to Leslie. "You didn't hear that. Just pretend that we're original and not a big family of copycats."

"Uh, okay. . .will do," Leslie replied with an amused smile. She glanced toward the doorway that led to the upstairs, then glanced down at her watch.

Lorelai took a sip of her coffee. "So, I guess you're waiting for Luke?"

"Uh, yeah, we're going to dinner," Leslie replied.

"Sounds good," Rory said. She took a few steps toward the door. "Uh, we should get going, Mom."

Lorelai pursed her lips and shot Rory a look, telepathically conveying, _Child, why do you always do this? How am I supposed to learn anything about their relationship if you keep dragging me away at the most inopportune times?_

Lorelai sighed softly and muttered, "Yes, going, right." She picked up the video store bag and held it up. "We've got a few hours of Mel Gibson ahead of us."

Leslie smiled. "Sounds good." She glanced past them, and her smile widened. "There you are. I was about to run out and buy you a clock."

Luke had just walked into the diner from the stairway, and he only had a few seconds to assess the situation. Lorelai and Rory. . .were talking to Leslie. 

Lorelai. Leslie. Standing next to each other. 

For the first time since he'd heard the rumor, he was given the opportunity to compare them face to face. His eyes quickly diverted back and forth between the two of them. 

__

Oh God, hethought_. _He tried to deny it at first, but after a few double takes, he had to admit it. . .he saw the similarities between the two. _They do look alike_.He suddenly felt uncomfortable, as if everyone knew what he was thinking, as if all eyes were on him. 

Probably because they were. The three girls were all staring at him, and when he saw Leslie walking toward him, he finally snapped back to reality. He cleared his throat and said, "Yeah, sorry I'm running a little late." _Oh God, does Leslie see it? Does she see the resemblance?_

"It's okay," Leslie replied. "I was just catching up with Lorelai and Rory." She gestured toward them.

"Oh. . .good." Luke swallowed hard and nodded a hello toward them. "Hey." 

"Hey," Rory replied. 

"Hey." Lorelai stared at Luke and Leslie standing next to each other. Something about the way that Leslie was smiling up at him made a pit form in her stomach. She took a few deep breaths and started chewing on the inside of her lip.

"So, you ready to go?" Leslie asked Luke. 

"Oh, yeah, we were just leaving, too," Rory said. "Have a good night."

"Thanks," Leslie replied with a small wave. "Good to see you again."

"Yeah, you too," Lorelai mumbled, waving over her shoulder as Rory pulled her toward the door.

As they stepped out onto the sidewalk, Rory giggled. "From now on, I'm calling her MommyLeslie."

"Stop it," Lorelai muttered, glancing in at Leslie as they passed the diner window.

"Or hey – she likes the name Lorelai. Maybe we could get her to change her name, and then slowly meld you two into one person," Rory suggested.

"Rory, knock it off." Lorelai exhaled loudly and quickened her pace.

Rory quickened hers as well, and after walking almost a block in silence, she said, "You saw it, didn't you?"

"What are you talking about?" Lorelai asked.

"Well, you're crabbier than usual after a Leslie encounter, so I'm deducing that you finally saw the resemblance. . .and you hate having to admit that you're wrong, so you're mad," Rory said.

"Why do you have to go around deducing everything?" 

"Well, would you rather me go around _seducing_ everything?" Rory asked.

"No, that's my job in the family," Lorelai muttered. "Why do you think we get such fast pizza deliveries?"

Rory made a face. "Too much information." She grabbed Lorelai's arm. "Come on, tell me."

Lorelai stopped walking. She folded her arms across her chest as she turned to face Rory, and then she closed her eyes.

"Mom, it's no big deal," Rory said with a shrug. "You're reading way too much into this – that's why I think you're afraid to admit there's a resemblance."

Lorelai opened her eyes and sighed, slightly curious to hear what Rory had to say. 

Rory continued, "I mean, we already knew that he likes you." Lorelai rolled her eyes and shook her head. "So whether he dates someone who looks like you or not, it doesn't change anything. Why are you acting like it's such a big deal?"

"I'm not acting like it's a big deal."

Rory rolled her eyes. "Okay, you're not." They were quiet for a moment, and Lorelai shifted her feet uncomfortably. Rory persisted, "So. . .did you see it?"

Lorelai shrugged and reluctantly muttered, "Maybe. . .just a little bit."

Rory smiled and clapped a few times. "Aha! I knew it."

Lorelai waved her off and resumed walking toward the house. "All right, you don't have to rub it in." Rory, a satisfied grin on her face, jogged to catch up with her mother.

* * *

That night, Lorelai lay in bed staring up at the ceiling. _Rory doesn't get it_, Lorelai said to herself. Luke dating someone who was like her _did_ change things – in her mind, at least. Before, it was just people telling her that he liked her. But this made his feelings for her seem . . .more real. Because it was something he was doing himself. It wasn't just someone else saying, "Oh, look, he likes you." This was Luke saying, "Oh, look, I like people who look like you." And that did change things.

Lorelai sighed loudly and rolled onto her side. _Okay, you finally saw it. . .you finally admitted it,_ she told herself. 

"Now you can try to figure out why it's driving you crazy," she whispered aloud. "Or you can continue trying to let this newfound obsession phase itself out."

Lorelai rolled onto her back again, closed her eyes, and covered her face with her hands. _But what if it never phases itself out?_

* * *

To be continued. . . 

Author's Note:

Thanks to everyone for the reviews. Sorry it took so long for an update. I took a little break from writing, but I'm trying to slowly get myself back into the groove again. :)


	4. Part 4

"Mystery Woman – _part 4_"

* * *

That same night, Luke and Leslie walked into the diner. It was already past closing time, so they had the place to themselves. Luke flipped on the light, then took off his jacket and draped it on a chair. "You want anything?" he asked as he walked behind the counter.

Leslie walked to the counter. "Yeah, sure. Got hot chocolate?" She ran her fingers through her hair, giving it a little flip over her shoulder.

Luke quickly glanced down, releasing an almost inaudible sigh. _Please stop doing that_, he wanted to say to her. _Every time you do that, you remind me more and more of Lorelai. _He nodded toward the kitchen and said, "Yeah, I think I can find some back there."

"Cool." She gestured toward the doorway to the back. "Um, is the bathroom. . ."

Luke pointed to the double doors. "Yeah, right through there."

"Great, thanks." She walked to the back as Luke walked into the kitchen. 

He put on a kettle of water and propped himself up on the counter as he waited for it to boil. He exhaled slowly and stared down at his shoes. 

He liked Leslie – he liked her a lot. But things were different now than they were before. Now when he was with her, all he saw was Lorelai. He couldn't help it – now that he was aware of the resemblance, it was always in the front of his mind. 

And while he felt stupid for not noticing it earlier, he wondered if maybe, subconsciously, he _had_. . .maybe it was the reason he'd ask her out in the first place. Maybe he'd been imagining himself with Lorelai this entire time. That was something he needed to figure out. . .and soon, before things with Leslie got more serious.

A knock jarred him from his thoughts, and he looked up. Leslie was standing at the doorway. "Am I allowed back here or is this an 'employees only' area? Do you have security guards waiting to attack anyone who walks back here without permission?"

Luke hopped off the counter and waved for her to walk over. "Nah, come in. It's almost ready."

Leslie smiled and walked over to him. "So. . .those are some nice bathroom facilities you have."

"Yeah, I'm pretty proud of 'em," Luke replied with a nod.

She looked around the kitchen, then ran her fingers over the steel countertop. "Nice kitchen, too."

Luke nodded in agreement as he glanced around. "Yup." He retrieved two mugs from a cabinet, then from another, he removed some cocoa mix and a tea bag. 

He dropped the tea bag into one mug, then spooned some cocoa into the other. He turned off the tea kettle, which had just started to whistle, and poured some water into the mugs. He gave them each a quick stir, then handed Leslie hers. "There ya go."

"Thanks." She inhaled the aroma. "Mm, smells good." She blew lightly on the steaming liquid to cool it down some, then took a sip. "Mm, tastes good, too." She noticed him staring at her. "Something wrong?"

__

Oh, no, not at all, Luke thought. _You know my friend Lorelai? Well, I don't know if you've noticed, but you look exactly like her, and I've been thinking about her all night instead of you. . . but let's not talk about it until I've had a chance to sort things out in my mind. _

He shook his head. "Nope."

"Good." Leslie smiled up at him and kissed him on the cheek. "Let's go sit at a table."

"Okay." Luke watched her walk out of the kitchen, then sighed and followed her into the diner.

* * *

The next afternoon, Luke walked out of the kitchen with two plates of food. As he delivered them to people at the counter, he saw Rory walk in and sit at a table by the door. She set her backpack on the chair next to her and pulled a book out of it. 

Luke walked over to her with his order pad opened. "Hey."

Rory looked up at him and smiled. "Hey Luke."

"Can I get you something?"

Rory glanced at her watch. "Uh, not yet. I'm meeting Lane here, so I'll wait for her before I order. I'll just start with coffee."

"Okay." Luke stuck his pad into his waistband and his pencil behind his ear. "Be right back." He walked over to the counter and returned a moment later with a mug of coffee. 

As he set it down, he noticed her staring at him. "What?"

Rory smirked and shrugged. "Oh, nothing." 

Luke sighed and glanced past her out the window. "You see it. . .the whole Leslie thing. . ."

"Yes, I do."

He took a deep breath. "So I guess. . ."

"Yes?" Rory prompted him.

"Your mom. . ." Luke gestured oddly, waving his hand slowly back and forth in front of him. "I guess she. . ."

"She's not blind," Rory confirmed.

He sighed and nodded. "Right." 

They were quiet for a moment before Rory asked, "You didn't see it at first, did you?"

Luke shook his head. "Nope."

"Yeah, she didn't either," Rory said. 

Luke nodded, then gestured over his shoulder. "So I gotta. . .get back to the kitchen. Call me when you wanna order something."

Rory nodded. "Okay."

* * *

It was just a few minutes before closing time when Lorelai walked into the diner. Luke, standing near the register, was the only one there, and he said nothing as she walked toward him. 

She sighed as she leaned forward on the counter. "We need to talk."

Luke shoved his hands into his pockets and glanced down at the floor. "About what?"

"Luke, you know what," Lorelai said, not buying his attempt at confusion. "I've heard the rumor, I've seen her – let's talk about what it means." Luke started to respond, but Lorelai held up her hand. "Wait. After I get some coffee."

Luke nodded and turned around to the coffee maker. He pulled a mug out from under the counter, and as he reached for the coffeepot, he felt Lorelai's presence right behind him. 

He froze. 

He suddenly felt her hands graze over his flannel shirt, and her touch sent shivers up his spine. As she began dragging her fingertips up and down his back, he swallowed hard. _Oh God_. "What are you – " he started.

"Shhhh," she interrupted. She slid her hands up his back and ran her fingers through the soft curls of hair sticking out from under his cap. 

He closed his eyes and pressed his palms tightly against the counter, as if trying to prevent himself from collapsing. His breathing increased to the point where he was almost panting. Her hands. . .God, her hands felt so good against his body. They were running over his back, over his shoulders, down his arms.

"Do you want me?" she whispered. Her warm breath felt like a torch against his earlobe. 

He opened his eyes and exhaled slowly as he nodded and whispered, "Yes."

She placed her hands on his shoulders and turned him around to face her. As she ran her hands over the stubble on his cheeks, he stared into her bright blue eyes, fierce with intensity, need, desire. 

She took his hands into hers and squeezed them gently. "Are you sure that you want me. . .and not her?" 

He nodded.

"Good." She brought his hands down and rested them on her waist. Denim had never felt so good to him in his entire life. They were both still for a moment, staring at each other, their chests heaving with every breath.

Suddenly, he pulled her tightly against his body, and she released a small gasp of surprise. She smiled up at him and draped her arms over his shoulders. 

"Luke!"

Surprised, they both turned toward the door where the angered voice had come from. 

Luke, looking like a deer caught in headlights, croaked, "Leslie."

Lorelai wriggled out of his grasp and pushed herself away from him. "You called her Leslie. I'm Leslie!"

Leslie walked toward them. "No, I'm Leslie, you're Lorelai."

"What?" Lorelai exclaimed. "I am?"

As they began arguing, Luke took a few steps back from them. His eyes quickly moved back and forth between the two women, and he suddenly couldn't tell which was which. He started to take another step backwards, but instead he stumbled and landed on his back with a thud. He closed his eyes and groaned as he covered his face with his hands. The sound of the arguing women slowly dissipated until it suddenly became completely silent. 

When he opened his eyes, he was staring up at the ceiling of his apartment. He patted the area surrounding him. Felt his mattress, his blanket.

He was in bed. 

__

It was just a dream. 

He squinted as his eyes adjusted to the brightness of the room, then he lifted his neck to check the clock. He fell back against his pillow with a loud sigh. _God, Luke, you're gonna drive yourself crazy._

* * * 

A few days later, Lorelai walked into the kitchen of the Independence Inn. "Hey Sookie," she said as she walked to the coffee maker. 

Sookie looked up from the pan of onions she was sautéing. "Hey. Come here a sec." 

Lorelai poured herself a cup of coffee, then walked over to Sookie. "What's up?" 

Sookie dipped a wooden spoon into a nearby pot. "Here, tell me what you think of this." She held it up to Lorelai's lips, and Lorelai tasted the reddish substance.

Lorelai's eyes widened and she licked her lips. "Mm, that's good. It tastes strawberry-y."

"Because it is," Sookie declared proudly as she tossed the wooden spoon into the sink. "It's strawberry glaze for the cheesecake."

"Yummy," Lorelai said. She leaned against the counter and took a sip of her coffee as Sookie stirred the onions. 

"So. . .you still haven't mentioned the resemblance thing to Luke yet?" Sookie asked cautiously.

"You mean since this morning when you asked me that?" Lorelai asked, rolling her eyes. "Uh, no."

"Okay, sore subject, sorry," Sookie said, holding up her hands in defeat.

Lorelai scoffed and shook her head. "It's not a sore subject."

"Then why did you practically run out of the kitchen after I asked you this morning?" Sookie asked.

Lorelai gestured toward the lobby door and stammered, "Uh, because. . .out there. . .I had to. . .Michel was calling me." 

"Right," Sookie said with a smirk. "Talk to me."

Lorelai sighed and shrugged. "There's nothing to talk about. Luke's girlfriend looks like me."

"Yeah, I know that part."

"That's it, that's all there is to say."

"How does it make you feel?" Sookie asked. "Does it make you feel weird?"

Lorelai picked up a carrot stick and tapped it on the counter. "No, not really. It's no big deal." 

"Uh huh."

"Really, Sookie," Lorelai said with a shrug. "It doesn't bother me at all."

Sookie turned off the burner and wiped her hands on a dishtowel. "You know, maybe he doesn't see the resemblance."

"He does," Lorelai said quickly. "Rory told me he does."

"Rory talked to him about it?" Sookie asked, surprised.

"Well, not really," Lorelai replied. "A few days ago, she said that he asked her if _I_ saw it, and she said yes, and he claimed that he didn't see it at first, but now he does."

"So now he knows that you see the resemblance?" Sookie asked.

Lorelai nodded. 

"And you know that he sees it?" Sookie asked, and Lorelai nodded again. "But neither of you have brought it up?"

"Nope."

"You just avoid the subject completely?" 

Lorelai nodded. "Pretty much."

Sookie narrowed her eyes curiously at Lorelai, and a small smile appeared on her lips. She nudged Lorelai on the shoulder. "What's going on with you?"

"What are you talking about?" 

"I know you, Lorelai," Sookie said. "If it really was no big deal, then you would already be running around joking about it, teasing him about it, driving him crazy. . .but you're not."

"So what?"

"So. . .it obviously makes you feel a little weird," Sookie declared.

Lorelai was quiet as she stared down at the carrot in her hand. She tossed it into the garbage can and sighed. "Maybe a little," she admitted. "I mean, it makes me wonder things, like. . .when he's kissing her. . ."

"Is he imagining that it's you?" Sookie filled in.

Lorelai nodded. "Yeah. Do you think he is?"

Sookie shrugged. "Well, as much as you deny it, he _does_ like you, so he might be. How does that make you feel?"

Lorelai sighed. "Okay, you and Rory both need to stop asking me how everything makes me feel. I don't wanna talk about my feelings."

"Sorry, sorry," Sookie replied. "I'm just trying to help you sort out whatever's going on in that head of yours."

Lorelai started walking to the door. "And I appreciate that, but the only thing going on in there is the confusion over which episode of the Brady Bunch is my favorite."

Sookie tilted her head. "Lorelai. . ."

"There are way too many classic episodes to choose just one," Lorelai continued. "The one where Jan gets glasses but she doesn't like wearing them, the one where the football hits Marsha's nose, the one where Peter plays ball in the house and breaks the vase. . ."

"Lorelai. . ."

"All great episodes."

"Honey. . ."

"I'll let you know when I narrow it down. Bye Sookie." Lorelai walked through the door into the lobby. She stopped a few feet away and took a long sip of her coffee. _Maybe you should talk to her,_ she told herself. _It's better than keeping everything inside and driving yourself crazy._

Lorelai glanced toward the door to the kitchen. She tapped her fingernails on the side of her mug as she considered going back in to talk to Sookie.

Finally, deciding against it, she turned and walked toward the front desk. 

She wasn't ready to tell anyone the truth yet.

* * *

On Saturday afternoon, Lorelai was sprawled across the couch watching television when the doorbell rang. She walked over and answered the door.

Luke stood on the porch, his toolbox in tote. "Hey."

Lorelai smiled. "Aw, thank you," she said, waving him into the house. "Thanks for coming."

As he walked through the door, he said, "No problem."

"Really, I mean it," Lorelai replied. "I didn't expect you to come in the middle of the day. I'm sure the diner's busy and everything."

"Nah, it gets pretty slow around this time," he replied, shrugging it off.

"Okay. . .well, thank you," Lorelai said as she led him to the kitchen.

"You might wanna save the thanks until after we find out if I can fix it," he said. "I'm not exactly a plumber."

"No, but you can fix everything," Lorelai said. "You could start your own home improvement show and give Bob Vila a run for his money."

Luke set his toolbox on the kitchen table. "Yeah. . .well, I'll think about that if I ever get tired of the diner."

"Okay, good." She gestured to the sink. "Well. . .there it is, the faucet of doom."

He opened the toolbox and rummaged around for something.

Lorelai shoved her hands into her pockets. "Uh, so. . .can I get you a drink or something?"

"Nah, I'm good."

"Okay." She sat down at the table and opened a magazine. She skimmed through a few pages as Luke rolled up his sleeves and started working on the sink. 

After a minute of pretending to read the magazine, she slowly brought her gaze to Luke. He was crouching down, looking at the pipes under the sink. 

She hadn't wanted to call him. She didn't want to bother him by asking for favors, especially now when she had all these crazy emotions running through her. But she also didn't have extra money to spend on a real plumber, one who would undoubtedly charge two hundred bucks for something that could probably be fixed in five minutes.

__

Does he feel as weird as I do, she wondered. _Should I say something? Should I make small talk?_

He stood up and turned back to his toolbox, and she quickly glanced down at the magazine. "I found the problem," he announced. "It won't take long to fix."

She looked up at him and smiled. "Oh, great, thanks." She cleared her throat and asked, "So, you going to the rummage sale tomorrow?"

"Uh, yeah, I'll probably stop by," Luke replied, pulling a wrench out of his toolbox. "You?"

"Oh, absolutely," Lorelai replied. "There's no force strong enough to keep me away from those piles of cheap useless junk." 

Luke smiled and turned back to the sink. 

Lorelai exhaled softly and stared at him. She wanted to tell him how she'd been feeling. . . but she couldn't tell him, she couldn't ask him if he felt the same. She was terrified. 

She'd never be able to say it. How would she even form the words? 

__

Luke, I think this whole Leslie thing is making me realize that I might have feelings for you.

No, she'd never be able to say it. That would destroy their friendship. Things would never be the same again. 

Though, with how she was feeling right now, they weren't looking to be the same anyway. Because if she didn't do anything, there'd always be this feeling of regret, of 'what if.' But if she did do something and it turned out bad, there'd be a different feeling of regret. Either way. . .things were different now. 

Luke turned on the faucet and checked the water pressure, then turned to Lorelai. "There, all fixed." He put his wrench into the toolbox and closed it up.

Lorelai stood up and smiled. "Wow, that was fast. Thanks, I owe you one."

"Give up coffee," Luke suggested.

Lorelai smiled. "I don't owe you that much. I'd rather live with the faucet of doom."

"I tried." He picked up the toolbox and started walking toward the back door. "Well, I better get back."

Lorelai nodded. "Right. Thanks for coming over." The phone rang, and she glanced toward the living room, then back at Luke. "So, I'll see you tomorrow. Or maybe later tonight."

"Yeah, see ya." As Luke reached for the doorknob, Lorelai gave a small wave, then jogged toward the living room to answer the phone.

After explaining to the man on the phone that she was already satisfied with her long distance service, she hung up and dropped the phone on the couch. 

Then heard something in the kitchen.

She narrowed her eyes as she walked toward the noise, and she peeked into the kitchen from the doorway. The backdoor was open and Luke was kneeling in front of it, his toolbox opened on the ground next to him.

Surprised, Lorelai said, "Luke. . .uh. . .what are you doing?"

Luke looked over at her. "Oh, I just wanted to screw your back door before I left."

Lorelai's eyes widened and she gasped loudly. "Luke Danes, you are a dirty, dirty man," she said, shaking her finger at him.

Blushing slightly, Luke sighed and shook his head toward the ground. "Why don't I think before I talk to you?"

Lorelai smiled and walked over to him. "I don't know. You'd think you would know better by now." She gestured toward the door. "So, why are you screwing my back door?"

"Because the doorknob felt a little jiggly to me," Luke replied, holding up his screwdriver. "So I figured while I'm here, I might as well tighten it."

Lorelai smiled appreciatively. "Aw, thanks. Well, then, screw away." She took a few steps back from him and watched him work.

__

Maybe this is a second chance, she thought. _Maybe God performed some sort of miracle that made the doorknob loose so that Luke would stay, giving me a second chance to talk to him about things. You're not really gonna turn down a second chance from God, are you?_

Luke dropped the screwdriver into his toolbox, closed it, and stood up. "Okay, that's fixed, too."

"Thanks, Luke." He started to step out the door when she cleared her throat loudly. "Luke, wait."

He turned and stepped back into the kitchen. "Yeah?"

She began wringing her hands furiously. "Um, I wanted to talk to you about something."

Luke suddenly became nervous. "About what?" _Oh God, don't say Leslie. I'm not ready to talk to you about that. Please don't say Leslie._

"Um. . .Leslie," Lorelai replied hesitantly.

__

Dammit. Luke sighed toward the ground. "Uh huh."

__

Oh God, are you really doing this, she asked herself. _Are you really gonna tell him?_

"I mean, we both know that. . ." Lorelai started, then paused. "I mean, we can both see that. . ." Her voice trailed off. 

Luke shifted his feet and nodded uncomfortably. "Yeah, I know."

Lorelai took a deep breath. "And so. . .I was just . . .you know, I was thinking about it, and. . . " She sighed loudly. "God, I don't know how to say this. . ."

Luke wanted to drop his toolbox and run out the back door. He couldn't even look her in the eye. "It makes you feel weird, doesn't it?"

Lorelai nodded. "A little bit, but I realized that. . ."

"It doesn't mean anything," he interrupted.

Surprised, Lorelai flinched slightly. "What?"

Luke gestured with his one free hand. "The resemblance. . .I didn't mean to. . .it's just. . .one of those weird coincidences. . ." _Try to escape this conversation with as little embarrassment as possible, Luke. Don't freak her out any more than she already seems to be_. "I didn't even notice it until recently," he added with a casual shrug. 

Lorelai felt like someone had just punched her in the stomach. 

Or the heart.

"Oh," she said in an almost-whisper. "Right, that's what I figured." She forced a smile and nodded. "Coincidence. . .right."

"Yeah," he replied. "So. . .I'm sorry if it's weird. I didn't mean to make everything all. . . "

"No, no, it's fine," she said, waving him off. "Uh, thanks for . . .fixing the. . ." She gestured toward the toolbox.

"You're welcome," he replied. "I'll see you later?"

"Yeah, maybe," she replied with a nod. "Bye."

He nodded goodbye and walked out the back door, pulling it closed behind him. With the soft click of the door, her lower lip quivered and a single teardrop rolled down her cheek. 

* * *

To be continued. . . 

__

Much thanks to those of you who reviewed. :)


	5. Part 5

"Mystery Woman – part 5"

* * *

Luke walked home feeling relieved. That had been much easier than he thought it would be, denying to Lorelai that there was any meaning behind the resemblance. 

Of course, he knew differently. But what was he gonna do, come out and say, _Oh yeah, I've wanted to be with you for years now, and I think I subconsciously asked Leslie out because she looks like you. Hope you don't feel weird about it._

No. He could never do that. 

Besides, maybe he _did_ ask Leslie out because of the resemblance, but that's not all there is to her. It wasn't the reason he liked hanging out with her. She was funny. She was smart. She was always so easygoing.

__

But those are all the things you like about Lorelai, he reminded himself. _ So maybe. . .you're just trying to accept Leslie as a Lorelai substitute._. He kicked a rock down the sidewalk and let out a long sigh. _You'd better figure things out soon. . .because if that's what's going on, it's not fair to Leslie._

__

Or to you.

* * * 

Lorelai was curled up on the corner couch cushion, a blanket pulled up over her legs, a container of ice cream in her lap. She'd decided the situation called for wallowing. 

She'd been told many times that Luke had a thing for her, and she'd always dismissed it. She never seriously considered the possibility of dating him. But this whole situation had made feelings she'd never known she had come to the surface. She struggled with the emotions for a long time before she realized what she wanted. 

Him. 

She wanted more than a friendship with him. And she thought he wanted more than one with her. She thought the Leslie thing backed that up. . .which was the only reason she'd even considered telling him how she felt. Knowing that he felt the same way was the small boost of confidence she needed. 

But the way he'd brushed it off. . .the way he'd said it was only a coincidence. . .she cringed just thinking about it.

As she shoved a spoonful of rocky road into her mouth, she thought, _Maybe it's better this way. We have a good thing here. . .why screw up a perfectly good friendship? Pursuing something with Luke could've ended with disastrous results._

She swallowed hard and leaned her head back against the armrest. "But it could've ended with amazing results," she whispered sadly toward the ceiling. 

* * *

"You know, lying to your daughter isn't nice," Rory declared later that night.

"I'm not lying," Lorelai replied. "A group of eight-year old boys really did finish up all the ice cream. They knocked on the door and said they were really hungry but didn't have any money for food, and I felt bad for them, so I was like, 'well, we don't have much, but here – take the ice cream.' So they took it and left."

Rory pulled two empty cartons out of the garbage can. "And then they came back here to throw them away?"

Lorelai wrinkled her nose, then nodded. "Uh, yup, that's right. They couldn't very well throw them away at home because then their parents would know that they'd spoiled their dinner."

"Right." Rory dropped the containers back into the garbage can, then sat down at the kitchen table with Lorelai. "So, what happened that forced you to finish off two containers of ice cream?"

Lorelai sighed. "Nothing happened, it was just a craving," she replied. "Hey, you know what – I heard that Solaris is a really bad movie, but that there's a lot of George Clooney's butt in it."

"Mom."

"So we can go and pay absurd theater prices and see a really giant shot of his butt, or we can save our money and just wait for the DVD to come out, but only get a regular-sized shot of it," Lorelai said. "What do you think?"

"I think you're trying to change the subject," Rory replied.

Lorelai stood up and walked to the refrigerator. "What should we have for dinner? This leftover Chinese food should have a few more hours of life left in it. Feel courageous enough to give it a taste?"

"Mom, come on." Rory sighed. "You've been mopey and grumpy for awhile now, and you're not telling me anything and I'm worried about you."

Lorelai shut the fridge door, then turned around and leaned against it. "You don't have to be worried."

"But I am."

"But I'm telling you that you don't have to be," Lorelai said. "Nothing's wrong. You're right. . .I was going through sort of a mopey phase, but it's over now."

"What was the mopey phase about?" Rory persisted.

__

Well, Mommy's a complete idiot, Lorelai thought. S_he let her heart open up and speak, and she actually listened to what it was saying. . .and you know by now that Mommy doesn't have much luck when that happens._

Lorelai shrugged and waved her off. "It was just. . .a combination of things. Lots of stuff going on at work, and . . .you know, just some other things."

"Like?"

Lorelai sighed. "Like. . .I don't know. Sometimes people feel like they're in a rut and they get kind of down for a little while, but then things get better." Lorelai forced a smile. "And now I'm feeling better, so let's just forget about it and have some dinner."

Rory sighed, still left unsatisfied by the conversation, but she nodded. "Okay."

* * *

The next day, Lorelai and Rory were browsing the tables at the rummage sale when a voice behind them said, "Hey."

Lorelai dropped the scarf she'd been looking at and briefly closed her eyes. _Luke_. 

She didn't want to face him. She was afraid that looking at him would make the pain rush through her body again. She knew that she couldn't avoid him forever, but she'd been hoping she could avoid direct communication for at least a day or two. 

But there he was, standing right behind her. 

Lorelai forced a smile and slowly turned around. "Hey Luke." 

"Hey."

"Find anything good?" Rory asked him.

Luke reached into his back pocket and pulled out a baseball card, and Lorelai and Rory both looked at it. "Jim Palmer. That sounds familiar," Rory said.

Lorelai mused the name for a moment, then let out a small gasp. "Oh, I know! We've seen him on TV."

"You watch baseball?" Luke asked.

"No, but he does those loan commercials," Lorelai said. She smacked Rory lightly on the shoulder a few times. "Remember, he's that really tall guy and he has that kind of deep voice, and he's always like, 'This is Jim Palmer for the Money Store.'"

Rory smiled and nodded. "Oh, right! I remember. He went from being an actor to a baseball player?"

"I guess so," Lorelai said with a shrug. 

Luke rolled his eyes. "No, he was a player first." He slipped the card back into his pocket. "So, what about you? Buy anything?"

"Not yet," Rory replied. "We usually like to walk around the entire sale first and take everything in, see what's out there. Then we go around a second time and buy stuff."

"What if something you want is gone by the time you get back to it?" Luke asked.

Lorelai shoved her hands into her pockets and glanced down at her shoes. "Well, then it wasn't meant to be," she said softly.

"Ah," he nodded, unaware of the true meaning of the remark.

Rory pointed down the crowded street. "Mom, I'm gonna go say hi to Lane. I'll be right back."

"Okay," Lorelai replied calmly. Inside, she was yelling, _No, don't leave me alone with him! I'm okay as long as you're standing here, but who knows what'll happen if you leave? _ Ooh, t_ake him with you! Just grab a hold of his sleeve and drag him away from me, please!_

Unreceptive of Lorelai's mental pleas, Rory walked away, leaving Lorelai standing with Luke. She shifted her feet and gave him an uncomfortable smile. 

"So, how's the sink holding up?" Luke asked.

"Oh, good, thanks," Lorelai replied. "No more leaks."

"Good." 

"You underestimated your plumbing abilities."

"Guess so. And the formerly jiggly doorknob?" 

"No longer jiggly," Lorelai confirmed.

Luke nodded. "Good, good." 

Lorelai folded her arms across her chest. "So. . . gonna buy anything else today? I saw an I Love Lucy plate set that I'd enjoy having my burgers served on at the diner." 

"Oh yeah? I'll have to check that out later."

Lorelai smiled. "Please do." She glanced past Luke and her smile faded when she saw Leslie approaching them. She cleared her throat and nodded toward her. "Here comes your. . .um, Leslie's. . .she's coming this way. . ."

"What?" Luke turned around just as Leslie reached them. "What are you doing here?"

"Hi to you, too," she replied.

"Oh, hi," Luke said. "Sorry, I just wasn't expecting to see you. What's up?"

"I was heading to the diner to see if you were free for lunch, but then I saw you standing over here, so. . .here I am," Leslie said. She smiled at Lorelai. "Hey."

"Hi," Lorelai replied with a polite nod. Her eyes glazed over Leslie's outfit, looking for something to mock, but she came up empty. _Damn her for having good fashion sense! _

"What's going on here?" Leslie asked, gesturing toward the tables.

"Rummage sale," Luke replied. "We're raising money for . . ." He paused and turned to Lorelai. "What are we raising money for anyway?"

Lorelai shrugged. "Nobody really knows. Taylor always finds something that needs rebuilding or renovating for us to raise money for, but then it never gets fixed. Personally, I think he's pocketing all the money and saving up for hair follicle implants."

"Maybe," Luke agreed. 

Rory walked back over to them, and as she greeted Leslie, Lorelai mentally scolded her. _You know, if you had just dragged Luke away from me like I asked you to, I wouldn't be standing here pretending to be happy and friendly, but secretly wanting to rip my hair out._

Leslie patted Luke on the arm. "So, what about lunch? You have some free time?"

Luke checked his watch. "Well, yeah, but I gotta get back to the diner by twelve-thirty."

Leslie checked her own watch. "Oh, that gives us plenty of time. We even have a few minutes to scope out the sale a little. Looks like there are some cute things here." She picked up a scarf from the table. "This is great."

Lorelai narrowed her eyes. _Don't even think about it. I had my eye on that, it's mine! _She leaned forward and examined the scarf. "Oh, you know what, I'd stay away from that one."

Leslie raised an eyebrow. "How come?"

"Because the woman who donated that just got over a bad case of pinkeye," Lorelai explained. "Plus, I think her son had that hand, foot, and mouth disease, too. . .so that thing's probably loaded with germs and bacteria and other infectious organisms."

Leslie made a face and dropped the scarf. "Ew. Thanks for the tip." 

Luke and Rory both narrowed their eyes with confusion at Lorelai, who nodded and said, "It's true. I overheard someone talking about it yesterday."

"Okay, well, I'm sure there are some non-contaminated items here," Luke said. "Let's go look around."

"Okay. See you guys later," Leslie said. Rory and Lorelai said goodbye, and Luke and Leslie walked away.

When they were out of earshot, Lorelai picked up the scarf and clutched it to her chest. "Ha! Sucker."

Rory rolled her eyes. "Tsk. You made all that up, didn't you?"

"Yes."

"Why?"

"Because I saw this scarf first," Lorelai said. "And I was not going to stand here and watch it get ripped away from me. That's like being a guard at the Louvre and letting someone just waltz in and take the Mona Lisa without even trying to stop them."

Rory folded her arms across her chest. "Mom, that scarf is not the Mona Lisa of scarves."

"Oh, whoa, whoa, I beg to differ," Lorelai said. She held it up in front of Rory's face. "Look at the sharp colors, the cute fringe, the woven – "

"You just want it because she wants it," Rory interrupted, pushing Lorelai's hand away. 

Lorelai scoffed. "I do not! I was looking at it five minutes ago with the intention of buying it."

Rory smirked. "Right. You're such a child."

Lorelai rolled her eyes and muttered, "Fine, but I'm a child with a nice new scarf." 

A few minutes later, at another section of the rummage sale, Leslie perused a table of jewelry while Luke stood nearby. He glanced down the street, surveying the crowd until he found Lorelai. He shoved his hands into his pockets and watched her as she walked along the row of tables with Rory. 

He sighed softly to himself as he brought his gaze back to Leslie. She had moved down to the next table, and didn't notice that Luke hadn't moved along with her. Luke turned back to find Lorelai, who was now near the refreshment table with Rory, and he settled back into his quiet observation mode. He saw Sookie walk over and start talking with them. He loved watching Lorelai in a discussion, especially the way she used her hands, always gesturing, always touching. 

She's touched him during many of their conversations, and he never showed that he noticed or cared. . . but it was something that he always paid attention to. Sometimes he waited for it, looked forward to it, even. A playful shove, a pat on the arm or chest, their hands grazing against each other when she handed him money to pay the check. . . every little touch was incredible. 

__

Stop it, he thought, shaking his head. _What the hell is wrong with you? Leslie is five feet away, and you're standing here thinking about Lorelai, staring at her like you're undressing her with your eyes. _He stared at Lorelai for a beat, then quickly turned his head. _No, don't even think about it. _

He turned and walked toward Leslie, who was paying for whatever she'd just picked out. "What'd you buy?" he asked.

As she collected her change, she held up a beaded bracelet. "Cool, huh?"

"Yeah, it's nice," he nodded. 

"I'm just hoping the former owner didn't have any contagious diseases." She shoved her change into her pocket, then slipped the bracelet onto her wrist. "So, ready for lunch, or did you wanna look around some more?"

"Nah, I'm ready." They started walking down the sidewalk.

Lorelai was still standing with Sookie and Rory when she saw Luke and Leslie walking toward them. She forced a smile as they walked past, and they all exchanged polite waves and head-nods. 

After they had walked by, Sookie covered her mouth with her hand and giggled. "Oh my God. She looks so much - "

"Don't say it, Sookie," Lorelai warned seriously. "I get enough of it from this one." She jerked a thumb toward Rory.

"Well, then maybe I'll just take a moment to go over here and discuss it with _this_ _one_," Sookie said. She put an arm around Rory's shoulder and led her a few feet away from Lorelai.

Lorelai glanced in the other direction and watched Luke and Leslie as they walked away. 

The scene made her stomach hurt. 

But then, for a brief moment, she imagined that it wasn't Leslie he was leaving with. She pictured herself walking down the sidewalk with Luke right by her side. That it was her arm, not Leslie's, wrapped loosely around his waist. That it was her ear he'd just leaned over and said something into. That it was she he was going to lunch with. That it was – 

"Mom," Rory interrupted her thoughts.

Lorelai snapped out of her fantasy and turned around to face Rory and Sookie. "Huh?"

"We're done talking about you and your tw. . .uh, Leslie," Sookie said. 

Lorelai rolled her eyes. "Good – got it all out of your systems?"

Rory nodded. "Yeah. Let's go look around some more."

Lorelai gave one last thoughtful glance toward Luke before she followed Rory and Sookie down the street. 

* * *

The next morning was one of those mornings where she would've paid any amount of money to just crawl back into bed. She woke up with a pounding headache. The water pressure in the shower fluctuated constantly. The zipper on her skirt broke. It took her ten minutes to find her car keys. And she couldn't stop thinking about Luke.

All combined – it made for an extremely cranky Lorelai. 

She walked into the diner and up to Luke at the counter. There was that stomach pain again. It hit her every time she was near him. "Coffee to go." 

"You look happy," Luke commented.

"Yeah, well, you need glasses," she muttered as she reached into her wallet for some money.

He walked over to get her coffee. "Wake up on the wrong side of the bed?" 

Lorelai rolled her eyes and threw her hands up in the air. "I hate that expression. What does it even mean? If there's literally a right side and a wrong side to the actual bed, wouldn't that mean that for a couple sharing a bed, one of them would always be getting up on the wrong side? Thus leading to daily arguments and a sky-rocketing divorce rate? Unless they figure out which one's the right side and then they both always crawl out on the same side, which is probably pretty damn inconvenient for one of them." She scoffed. "Wrong side of the bed. . . it's such a stupid expression."

Surprised by the rant, Luke walked back to her with a confused look. "Geez, I get it, sorry for bringing it up. Here." He handed her a to-go cup.

"Thank you," she mumbled, slapping her money on the counter. She turned and walked out of the diner. 

"God, what's her problem?" Luke muttered to himself as he collected the money.

Miss Patty, having witnessed the scene from a nearby table, glanced out the window at Lorelai, then turned back to Luke. "She's been in kind of a mood for a few weeks now."

"Really, a few weeks? I haven't noticed." Luke put the money into the cash register.

"Well, it's been off and on, but something's definitely been bugging her. And Sookie said she won't talk to anyone about it," Patty said. "We're all kind of worried about her."

Luke's brow furrowed. "Huh."

Patty looked at the check lying on the table, then rummaged through her purse for exact change. She stood up and walked over to Luke. "So. . .how are things with your new lady friend?"

Luke rolled his eyes. "None of your business."

"Just asking," Patty said with a shrug.

"Well, I'd rather you didn't," Luke replied. 

"Okay, okay, fine." Patty handed him the money. As he put it into the cash register, she said, "Mm, you know, come to think of it, she's been around for a couple weeks now, hasn't she? Your lady friend, I mean."

Luke stared at her curiously. "What's your point?"

Patty shrugged nonchalantly. "Oh, nothing, honey. It's just that some of us think that . . . maybe there's a correlation between _Lorelai's_ mood and _your_ new friend. . . since they both started at about the same time."

Luke froze, as if he needed to be absolutely still to fully digest what she was saying. After a moment, he pushed the register drawer closed and slowly brought his gaze up to meet Patty's. 

"What does that mean. . .you don't think she's. . ." Luke's voice trailed off. _Jealous. Is Lorelai jealous?_

Patty gave him a pointed look. "Just think about it, dear." She turned around and walked out of the diner, leaving Luke staring straight ahead in a daze.

* * *

To be continued . . .

Thanks so much to those who left feedback! I appreciate (and need) the encouragement. Please read and review. :) 


	6. Part 6

"Mystery Woman – part 6"

* * *

That afternoon, Lorelai lay on Rory's bed, telling the story of what happened that morning at Luke's.

". . . so then he said something about getting up on the wrong side of the bed," Lorelai said. "And for some stupid reason, I go into this idiotic rant about how I hate that expression. Which I don't – I use that expression myself – but I was just in such a bad mood that I couldn't stop myself. And now he's probably thinking that I'm some kind of nutcase. Not that he didn't think that already, but if he was having any doubts about it, I think I cleared it up for him." She sighed loudly. "I don't know what to do. Help me, please."

She rolled onto her side and stared at Colonel Clucker, who was sitting on the nightstand next to Rory's bed. 

"You think I should go and apologize to him, don't you?" she asked with a sigh. She rolled onto her back and stared up at the ceiling. "You're probably right. I should do it soon, too, before – "

"Mom?" Rory's voice called from the front door. "You home?"

"Agh!" Lorelai jumped up off the bed. "Thanks for listening," she whispered to the stuffed chicken before running out of the bedroom. She walked toward the living room, where Rory was dropping her school stuff on the couch. "Yeah, I'm here."

"You're home early," Rory commented. 

"Yeah, I had some errands to run for the inn, so I just came right home afterwards," Lorelai explained. "How was school?"

"Crazy," Rory replied as she collapsed on the couch. "I'm so overloaded with work, I don't even think I'm gonna have time for dinner or any of our usual three nighttime snacks."

Lorelai gasped and sat down next to her. "Enough with the insane psycho-babble. Gilmores never skip dinner or snacks."

"But it's true. The amount of work that teachers assign on a daily basis has greatly increased since I was a kid," Rory said.

Lorelai smiled. "Way back when?"

"Yup, back in those forgotten days of my youth," Rory said.

Lorelai playfully pinched Rory's cheek. "You're so cute when you act like you're fifty-five years old." She stood up. "Here's the deal – we'll order Chinese food, and I'll go pick it up myself and walk really slow so you can have the house to yourself for a little while and get started on that work."

"No, that's okay," Rory waved her off. "You don't have to do that. We can just get it delivered."

"No, I wanna go pick it up, really," Lorelai insisted. She walked toward the kitchen. "Come help me make a menu."

"Now?" Rory asked. "It's only four-thirty."

Lorelai turned around. "Oh, right. Guess it's a little early for dinner."

"Kind of," Rory agreed.

"Well, listen, I'll go take a long hot bath," Lorelai said. "That's a pretty quiet activity that'll keep me from annoying you while you try to work."

"Unless you decide to do your 'worst singers of the American Idol auditions' impressions," Rory said, rolling her eyes. 

Lorelai smiled and raised her hand. "I swear that if I get the urge, I'll do it quietly."

"Okay."

"Then we'll order the food and I'll go pick it up and it'll be more like six-ish by the time I finally get it back here. Sound good?"

Rory nodded. "Sounds good."

* * *

It was almost six when Lorelai, toting a takeout bag from Al's Pancake World, walked past Luke's. She stopped out front and glanced through the window, deciding that stopping in and apologizing to Luke might be a good idea. 

She walked into the diner. She saw Jess at the counter and Caesar delivering some plates to a table, but she didn't see Luke. Lorelai walked over to Caesar. "Caesar, is Luke here?" 

He turned around to see who was asking, and a brief look of confusion passed over his face as he glanced toward the stairs. "Yeah, he just went upstairs with. . .well, I thought it was with you, but it must've been that other girl." 

Lorelai's face fell, and she exhaled slowly. "Leslie."

"I guess so," he replied with a shrug. "I only saw the back of her." He walked back to the kitchen. 

Lorelai stood in the center of the diner, staring at the doorway that led to the upstairs. _Upstairs. . .they're upstairs. . . together. Okay, well, maybe they're playing cards or something. Or maybe they're eating dinner. It is dinner time, after all. Or maybe they're – _

Lorelai broke off her random thoughts with a sigh. 

__

Forget it, you know they're doing it. God, there was that intense stomach pain again. _Is this how it's gonna be for the rest of my life?_ _I'm gonna feel sick to my stomach every time I even think about Luke? This is crazy. _She turned and walked out of the diner. Instead of heading home, however, she walked toward the market to buy some ice cream.

* * *

Upstairs in the apartment, Luke handed Leslie a can of soda. "Here ya go."

"Thanks," she replied. "So, what did you wanna talk about? You sounded weird on the phone."

Luke took a deep breath as he sat down next to her on the couch. "God, uh, well. . .Leslie. . ."  


"Yeah?" Leslie prompted him. She took a sip of her soda, then stared at him expectantly. 

Luke began wringing his hands, then stood up and began pacing nervously in front of her. 

"Luke, what is it?" she asked.

Luke stopped pacing and shoved his hands into his pockets. He glanced down at the floor as he said, "Look, I kind of lied to you a little bit yesterday. . ."

"Lied to me?" Leslie asked. "Lied to me about what?" 

"About what you asked me at lunch. . .about Lorelai."

Leslie narrowed her eyes, trying to remember their conversation. "You mean, when I asked you if you noticed that we kind of look alike?"

Luke nodded.

"So. . .what? You're saying that you _have_ noticed it?"

"Yeah."

"So why didn't you just say that?" she asked.

Luke gave a half shrug and shook his head. "I don't know." He walked over to the kitchen counter and stared out the window over the sink. _Oh my God, I haven't had to do anything like this in so long. I'd forgotten how much I hate it. _

Leslie stared at him for a moment, confused as to where this conversation was headed. She finally stood up and walked toward him. She set her drink on the kitchen table and folded her arms across her chest. "Luke?"

__

You have to do it, Luke. Just suck it up and tell her. Luke sighed loudly and turned to face her. "Look, this whole situation. . .it's just. . .this isn't how it's supposed to be. . ."

Leslie took a few steps toward him, staring up at him with wide eyes that were troubled with confusion. "Luke, what are you saying?"

"Uh, well. . . I think we. . .maybe we should. . ." Luke stammered. _Say it Luke. Just tell her it's over._

* * *

The next morning, Lorelai skipped her morning visit to the diner – for no other reason than she was mad at Luke. Mad at him for being upstairs with Leslie in the middle of the dinner rush. 

She knew she was absolutely insane; she knew she didn't have a right to be mad at him, especially for that reason. He could do whatever he wanted with his girlfriend. But the more she thought about exactly what they were doing, the more she wanted to slap him. Wanted to scream at him. Wanted to cry. 

She'd decided that avoidance was the best way to deal with the anger. Just avoid the diner for a day or two, try to let the feelings settle, then go back. When, undoubtedly, something else would happen that would get her upset, and she'd again have to avoid the diner for a day or two to let the feelings settle. It was probably going to be a vicious circle for the rest of her life. Or at least until she got over him. Which she hoped was soon.

That night after work, Lorelai stopped by the market to pick up a few things. As she walked out and headed for her car, she saw Luke walking down the sidewalk right toward her. _God, we really need to move to a bigger town. This "avoiding people" thing doesn't really work well in Stars Hollow. _She stared down at the sidewalk, hoping that by some miracle he wouldn't say anything to her.

"Hey," he said when they reached each other.

__

Rats. She stopped walking and looked at him. "Hi." She shifted the plastic bag to her other arm. "Just had to pick up a few things from the market." _Ooh, very interesting conversation topic. It's always helpful to point out the obvious._

Luke nodded. "Right."

Lorelai cleared her throat. "Listen. . .uh, I'm sorry about yesterday morning. . ."

"Oh, forget about it."

"No, I was in a cranky mood and I was acting like you'd just dropped a house on my sister or something," she said. Luke stared at her until she clarified, "You know, because I was acting like the wicked witch, all . . .mean and witch-y."

"Ah," Luke nodded understandingly. "Got it."

"So. . .I'm sorry," Lorelai muttered. 

Luke waved her off. "Don't worry about it. We all have our days."

She stared down at the sidewalk as she said, "I actually stopped by last night to apologize. . .but you were busy."

"Busy?"

"Yeah, Caesar told me you were upstairs with Leslie," Lorelai said, looking up at him with a small smirk. As she saw the uncomfortable look appear on his face, she held up her hand and said, "Don't worry. I won't make any jokes about you taking her upstairs to give her a free dessert or anything."

Luke shifted his feet. "Thank you."

"You're welcome." They stared at each other for a moment until she said, "Uh, I better go."

__

"Oh, okay."_ Tell her. . .tell her that you broke up with Leslie. See how she reacts to it._

"See ya," Lorelai said. 

"Bye." As she started walking down the sidewalk, Luke sighed and scolded himself. _Why didn't you say anything, you moron?_ He turned around and watched her walk toward her Jeep. _You should've told her._

He was almost tempted to follow her down the street and tell her. . .but something stopped him. Something made him wonder if maybe it would be better if Lorelai still thought he was with Leslie. It'd give him a chance to see if she really was jealous. . . to see if she really was interested.

* * *

Two days later, Lorelai and Rory walked into the diner and sat down at a table. "So who's the one who scheduled a wedding and a convention a day apart?" Rory asked.

"Michel," Lorelai replied, rolling his eyes. "And I told him there's no way he's getting out of working both parties. It's gonna be so crazy that weekend. As soon as the wedding's over on Saturday night, we're gonna have to stay up all night cleaning and rearranging furniture and getting things ready for the convention people who'll arrive the next morning. It's gonna suck."

"It's gonna be tough," Rory agreed. "When is it? This weekend?"

Lorelai shook her head. "Nope, the next one. I'm already dreading it."

"Aw, poor girl. I can help out if you need me," Rory said. "It won't be a school night."

"Really? Because I might take you up on that," Lorelai warned her.

"Take me up."

"Take me down, take me anywhere you want to baby, now," Lorelai sang.

Rory let out a surprised laugh. "Oh my God."

"Sorry, the song just popped into my head," Lorelai said, frowning. 

"Don't worry, I won't tell anyone that you just randomly spurted out Mariah Carey lyrics," Rory promised.

"Thank you."

"Except Lane, because that's fun mocking material," Rory added.

"No fair! That was from the decade when her songs were kinda catchy," Lorelai defended herself. "And they overplayed it so much, I had no choice but to hear it and to subconsciously store the lyrics in my head."

"I understand," Rory nodded. "But it's still worth mocking."

Lorelai wrinkled her nose. "Evil child. I'm gonna go order. When I come back, try to have a list of reasons ready to remind me why I love you." 

"Will do."

Lorelai walked to the counter just as Luke walked out from the kitchen. Lorelai nodded toward him. "Hey."

"Oh, hey," Luke replied. He glanced past her and saw Rory at the table. "Just get here?"

"Yup. Uh, coffee and burgers," Lorelai said.

"Okay," Luke replied. "Hang on, I'll get the coffee right now." He pulled two mugs out from under the counter, then turned to get the coffeepot. As he began pouring the coffee, he smiled to himself.

Lorelai noticed. "What's that for?"

"Huh?" He looked up at her, then realized she was talking about the smile. "Oh, it's just. . .I was thinking about something Leslie said the other day."

Lorelai clenched her teeth together and glanced down. "Oh." _God, Luke, making me feel sick right before I'm gonna eat isn't a good idea. _

Luke noticed her sudden discomfort. "It was just a funny little comment she made," he continued. 

Lorelai ran her fingers over the countertop as she muttered, "Yeah, she seems like a funny, funny girl."

"She is," Luke confirmed, eyeing Lorelai's expression. 

"That's great. . .that's really, really nice," Lorelai said quickly. She sighed and asked, "How's that coffee coming along?"

"Oh, sorry." Luke finished pouring the second cup. "There you go."

"Thanks." Lorelai picked them up and walked back to the table. Luke stood at the counter watching her, a satisfied smirk on his face.

* * *

The next morning, Luke once again tried to evoke feelings of jealousy in Lorelai. As he delivered two plates of pancakes to her and Rory, he said, "There you go." Then he yawned loudly and stretched his arms up over his head.

"Rough night?" Rory asked.

Luke shrugged nonchalantly. "Oh, you know. . .I didn't get back from Leslie's until pretty late, so. . ." He gestured aimlessly with his hands. _Oh God, I can't believe I just said that in front of Rory._

Rory suddenly felt embarrassed, and she glanced away. "Oh." 

__

Jesus, do you have to talk about her every single time I'm around? Lorelai wanted to scream at him. _Do you not understand how much it kills me every time I hear her name? _

Her face tightened up and she stabbed her stack of pancakes with her fork, the metal clinging loudly against the plate. "Yes, well, let's hope that the late night didn't affect the quality of the food, huh? That might prevent us from returning." She shoved a piece of pancake into her mouth and stared out the window as she chewed it. 

Luke dropped the check on the table. "Well, let me know if it does so I'll know for next time." He turned and walked back to the counter.

Rory glanced over at Luke, then back to Lorelai. "That was weird."

"What was weird?"

"Luke. . .talking about Leslie like that," Rory said. "I mean, . . ._like_ _that_. He was being kind of. . .I don't know, open. . .blunt. . .don't you think?"

"I guess so," Lorelai mumbled.

Rory shrugged. "I don't know. It was just weird to hear him say something like that. I mean, implying that - "

"Yeah, I know what he was implying," Lorelai interrupted. "Let's drop it. I'm trying to eat here."

"Okay, sorry," Rory muttered.

* * *

A few minutes later, Rory pulled on her coat and picked up her backpack. "I gotta go." She leaned across the table and kissed Lorelai on the cheek. "See you tonight."

"Bye hon. Have a good day."

As Rory left, Lorelai pulled some money from her purse. She picked up the check and walked up to Luke at the counter. He stopped filling the salt shakers, wiped his hands on his apron, then took the money from her. "So. . .did the quality of the food suffer?" he asked.

"Not significantly, but I believe I detected a slight decrease in fluffiness," Lorelai said.

"Well, I'll have to talk with Leslie and see if we can work out a better solution for next time then," he said as he put the money into the register. "You know, she said the funniest thing the other – "

Lorelai groaned. "God, why do you have to talk about her all the time?" she exclaimed, throwing her hands up in the air with frustration. A few customers glanced toward her, then went back to eating their food.

Luke was taken aback by the outburst, though he realized that this was the reaction he'd been waiting for. "God, what's your problem?"

Lorelai's eyes widened and she covered her mouth with her hand. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to – "

"Jealous?" he interrupted, folding his arms across his chest.

Lorelai scoffed loudly. "No, I'm not _jealous_. I just don't need to hear about her every minute of the day. It's annoying." She walked to her table and grabbed her things, then walked out of the diner.

Luke followed her out the door and caught up to her. "I think you're jealous of her," he said quietly.

Lorelai turned around. "Well, I'm not! I think it's great that you found someone you like who can keep you up all night and cause you to make less-than-perfect pancakes. I couldn't be happier for you!" she said angrily.

"Yeah, you sound it," he commented.

"I have to go to work," she declared. She turned around and started walking down the sidewalk.

He glanced around, making sure no one was in earshot, as he said, "We broke up."

Lorelai stopped walking. 

"A few days ago," he added as he walked toward her.

She turned around to face him. "What?"

"You heard me," he said.

She adjusted her purse on her shoulder as she said, "But that doesn't make sense. You said that - "

"I know what I said," Luke interrupted. "I lied."

Lorelai narrowed her eyes with confusion. "Why?"

Luke glanced around, worried that someone might hear them. "Come upstairs with me so we can talk. Jess already left."

"I have to get to work," Lorelai said, glancing down at her watch.

"It'll only be a few minutes," Luke insisted. "Please?"

Lorelai sighed and slowly walked toward him. He led her back to the diner and up to his apartment. She dropped her things by the door, then folded her arms across her chest. "What's going on, Luke?"

"We broke up," Luke said.

"Yeah, I got that part," Lorelai said, waving for him to continue. "Why'd you lie?"

Luke walked over to the kitchen table, suddenly feeling more nervous than he ever had in his life. "Because. . ." He swallowed hard as he stared across the room at her. 

"Because what?"

"Because I wanted you to think we were still together," he finally said. 

"Oh, of course." Lorelai rolled her eyes and shook her head. "You know, if you're trying to make me more confused, you're doing a damn good job."

"Will you sit down? You're making me nervous just standing there." Luke pointed to the couch, and Lorelai stared at him as she walked over and sat down. He walked over and sat down on the edge of his bed. "Uh. . .so. . .Patty said the other day that you've been in a bad mood for awhile, and she thought you . . .might've been jealous of Leslie." 

Lorelai shook her head in disbelief. "She said that?"

"Yeah. And so. . .I was bringing up her name around you to see how you reacted," Luke explained. "To see if it was true." He paused a moment before he added, "And it seemed like it was."

Lorelai stared down at the floor. Neither of them spoke for almost a minute as Luke waited for her to say something, waited for her to confirm it. He felt more nervous with every passing second, terrified that he'd made a mistake by bringing this up.

Finally, she looked up at him. "Why'd you guys break up?"

Luke began wringing his hands. "Because I didn't want to be with her." He paused, and told himself, _Luke, you've come this far, don't hold back anything._ "I think I only asked her out because. . .she looked like you. I think I was trying to fool myself that . . .I was with you." _Oh God, you sound like such a moron. This is why you never share your feelings, because you always sound so stupid._

"But you said it was only a coincidence," Lorelai reminded him.

"It wasn't."

Lorelai rolled her eyes. "Another lie? God, Luke, when did you become such a pathological liar?" 

"Look, it was a subconscious thing," Luke explained. "I didn't see it until someone pointed it out. Then I realized that. . .I was just kidding myself. And I didn't wanna tell you that because I didn't want to freak you out. But then. . .I saw that you were jealous. . . and I thought you. . ." He shrugged, not knowing how to finish his sentence.

Lorelai stood up from the couch and walked over to the window. She stared out at the town square as she asked, "So. . .what are you saying, Luke? What is the point of this whole discussion?"

He stood up and took a few steps toward her. _Just say it, Luke. You might never get this far into it again. Don't worry about rejection – you can't go through life being scared of that anymore. _"The point is. . .that I broke up with her because. . .I want to be with you." _Oh God, I've been waiting so long to say that._

Lorelai's heart started pounding so fast she could've sworn that the entire town could hear the thumping sounds. _He does wanna be with you._

"And I thought that. . . you might. . .well, that you. . .maybe. . ." His voice trailed off.

Lorelai closed her eyes. "That I want to be with you?" she supplied.

"Well. . .yeah."

__

Oh my God. Lorelai covered her face with her hands and took a deep breath. _What are you doing? This is what you've wanted to happen for weeks and you're just standing here with your back to him like you're ignoring him. Turn around!_

Lorelai listened to her inner voice and turned around to look at him. Her chest rising noticeably with each breath, she tried to interpret the expression on his face – it was a mixture of nervousness, embarrassment, fear, excitement. 

She walked over to him. She brought her hands up to his flannel shirt and fingered the buttons as she stared into his eyes. "I do," she whispered. "I do wanna be with you."

As relief washed over him, he smiled and brought his hands to her waist, running his thumbs over the fabric of her silk shirt. 

Her gaze traveled down from his eyes to his nose to his lips. She stared at them, wondering if they felt as soft as they looked. She brought her hand up to his face, and after running her fingers over the harsh stubble on his cheeks, she outlined his lips with her pointer finger. 

__

Oh my God. He could barely catch his breath, and all she had done was touch him. He could tell that her hands were trembling, and he waited anxiously for her to make a move.

__

Just do it, Lorelai, she told herself. _You know you want to. _ She swallowed hard and started to lean closer to him. _Oh my God, I'm about to kiss Luke. Luke!_

Their lips met with delicate tenderness, and the kiss was far more gentle than either had anticipated. Luke pulled her closer to his body, and her arms that had been draped over his shoulders soon tightened around his neck. The kiss became more passionate, more desire-filled, and neither wanted to be the first to give in to the need for oxygen. 

When they finally broke apart, Lorelai rested her chin on his shoulders as he hugged her. After she had caught her breath, she whispered. "Is this right?" 

"Felt right to me," Luke said.

"Me, too," she said. "But. . .I still don't know if it is. . ."

Luke pulled back to look at her. "How can it not be right if we both want it?" 

"We both want it now, but what happens if it doesn't work out?" Lorelai asked. She pulled away from him and walked over to the couch to sit down. "What happens if we start . . .I don't know, dating or whatever, and then we discover that it's not working out and we break up. Things'll be weird between us."

Luke took a deep breath. "They might be. . .but. . ."

"But what?"

"But. . .it's a risk I'm willing to take," he said. 

Lorelai glanced down at the floor. "I don't wanna hurt you."

"Why would you?"

"Because I suck at relationships, Luke," Lorelai reminded him. "If something goes wrong between us, it'll probably be because of me getting scared or freaking out or running away. I have a bad track record."

Luke sat down next to her. "Look, I know all that. . .but like I said, it's a risk I'm willing to take." Lorelai didn't look convinced, so Luke added, "Let's agree right now that if things don't work out. . .no matter what happens, we try as hard as we can to get things back to the way they were."

Lorelai shook her head. "Things will never be the same. They'll always be weird from now on."

"Things can only be weird if we let them be." He paused a moment, studying her expression. "What do you say?"

Lorelai exhaled slowly. "But. . .things won't be different just between you and me. I mean, Rory – what about her? I mean, I haven't even told her that I. . . have feelings for you."

"You haven't?" Luke sounded surprised.

Lorelai shook her head. "No. I mean, she could tell I was a little jealous, but I never mentioned anything specific about it."

"Why not?" Luke asked. "I thought you tell her everything?"

Lorelai shrugged. "I don't know. I just. . . I felt weird talking to her about this. I mean, she knows you so well, and we see you almost every day, and I didn't want things to be . . . "

"Weird," Luke finished. 

"Right."

"You're really concerned about the weirdness factor, huh?"

Lorelai nodded. "I'm sorry. I know I shouldn't be, but – "

"No, it's okay."

"And it's not just with Rory. The whole town will treat us differently. They'll always be hounding us and bothering us and asking us questions all the time. While we're together, and if we break up. . .you know how into relationships they get." Lorelai sighed and rested her chin in her palms. "That's why I haven't told anyone how I'm feeling. No one knows. I just don't know how it'll work out."

They were quiet for a few seconds before Luke said, "Don't tell 'em." 

Lorelai narrowed her eyes at him. "What?"

"Let's not tell anyone that we're together," Luke said. "Not Rory, not Sookie, no one."

Lorelai doubtfully cocked her head to the side. "Luke, what are you talking about?"  


"We'll try things out between us for a little while, test the waters," Luke said. "And if things aren't going well. . .well, then, we'll split up, and no one will have to know but us."

Lorelai stared at him with wide eyes. "You're serious about this?"

"I can handle it if you can," Luke said with a nod.

"You're gonna try to keep a secret in Stars Hollow?" she asked with a laugh. "Come on, Luke, you know that's impossible."

"It'll be tough," Luke agreed. "But if we really want to do it, I think we can."

Lorelai stared at him for a moment, considering it. "You know, I'm the one who's supposed to come up with the crazy schemes like that. I'm the wacky one."

Luke moved closer to her and took her hand into his. "So. . .what do you say?"

Lorelai glanced down at their entwined fingers, then smiled at him. "I say. . .let this mark the beginning of our secret dating escapades."

* * *

To be continued. . .

Thanks so much to everyone for reading, and for the nice feedback! :)


	7. Part 7

"Mystery Woman – part 7"

* * *

Lorelai glanced down at the floor and nibbled on her bottom lip. Luke watched her for a few seconds, then rubbed her knee. "You sure you're okay with this?" 

Lorelai looked up at him and nodded. "Yeah, I'm fine."

"Because I only suggested it so you wouldn't feel weird," Luke said. "So if you feel uncomfortable doing it or . . ."

"No, Luke, it's fine," she interrupted. 

"You look like you're having second thoughts about it," he commented.

"No, I'm not, I'm just. . .letting it all sink in," Lorelai said. "I mean, twenty minutes ago I wanted to smack you for talking about Leslie, and now. . .here we are. . ."

"I know," Luke nodded understandably.

They stared at each other for a few seconds before Lorelai took a deep breath and stood up. "I should get to work."

"Right. I should get downstairs." Luke stood up and followed her to the door, where she picked up her things. 

She put on her coat, then turned to him and asked, "You don't think it'll be weird for us to be walking down from your apartment together, right?"

Luke shrugged. "I don't think so. You've been up here before."

"Yeah, but maybe I should slip out the back door, just in case," Lorelai said. "Better not get people wondering."

"If you think so," Luke said.

Lorelai nodded. "I do." There was an uncomfortable silence, then she cleared her throat. "So. . .uh. . ." She took a step toward him and placed her hand on his chest. They stared at each other for a moment before Luke cupped a hand around the back of her neck and gently pulled her face toward his, their lips meeting in a soft kiss. 

Lorelai broke the kiss by smiling through it. "Personal question?"

"What?"

She smirked. "Better kisser – Lorelai or the Lorelai substitute?" 

A smile appeared on his lips, and he glanced shyly toward the ground. "Well, nothing's as good as the real thing."

"Except Diet Dr. Pepper," Lorelai said. "Which I've heard tastes just like regular Dr. Pepper."

"Probably because they just pour the regular stuff into the diet can," Luke said.

"You think?"

"Yup."

"Interesting." Lorelai kissed him once more on the cheek. "Let's go." 

Luke followed her into the hallway and pulled the apartment door closed. They walked down the stairs, and when they reached the bottom, he asked, "Uh, are you gonna. . .come by for dinner later?"

Lorelai turned around. "Well, I have to go to my parents' house tonight."

"Oh, right. Friday, I forgot."

Lorelai nodded. "But maybe we'll stop by afterwards for coffee or something."

Luke nodded. "Okay. . .so, maybe I'll see ya later."

Lorelai smiled and nodded. "Yeah, maybe." She wrinkled her nose for a second, thinking about something. 

"What's wrong?" he asked.

"Nothing." She pulled off her scarf from around her neck and handed it to him. "Put this in the storage room."

Luke glanced at it, then narrowed his eyes at her. "What? Why?"

"A lady always plans ahead," she said. "Trust me. Just take it to the storage room and hide it somewhere, okay?"

Luke was obviously confused, but he nodded. 

"Good. I gotta go," Lorelai said. 

"See ya."

"Bye." He watched her walk down the hallway toward the back door, and when she had disappeared from his view, he turned to go to the storage room.

* * *

As Lorelai walked through the back alley, she tried to digest what had just happened. 

__

I'm with Luke. Albeit, in a very strange way – but still, I'm - with - Luke. 

She shook her head in disbelief. It was almost too unreal a situation for it to be happening. 

She had to admit to herself that she was a little wary of the secretiveness, a little nervous about having to hide it from people, especially Rory. She wasn't known for keeping secrets very well, and she certainly wasn't known for lying to her daughter. 

But the more she thought about it, the more she realized that it was a good idea. It'd be stupid for them to make a big deal about getting together if it ended up not working out. And they wouldn't be hiding it for that long. . .just long enough to see if the chemistry she knows they have translates well into a relationship. 

Which, hopefully, it would.

* * *

The next afternoon, Lorelai and Rory walked into the diner and sat down at a table. Lorelai distractedly scanned the diner for Luke, and Rory asked, "Who are you looking for?"

Lorelai turned to her and shrugged nonchalantly. "Oh, uh. . . just . . .you know, no one in particular."

"Leslie?" Rory suggested with a smirk.

It was the first time in a few weeks that the name didn't make her want to scream. Lorelai rolled her eyes. "Uh, no."

Rory eyed her curiously as she took her coat off, but she said no more about it. "So you think the article sounds good?"

"No, it sounds excellent," Lorelai corrected her. "It was perfect. I never knew a story about the economy could be so moving. Really, the exquisite writing and supportive facts almost brought me to tears."

Rory rolled her eyes. "Okay, you're overdoing it."

"Seriously, honey, it was great," Lorelai said.

Rory smiled. "Thank you."

"Coffee?" a voice asked.

Surprised, Lorelai looked up to see Luke standing over their table. "Oh, hey." _God, why do I suddenly feel nervous around him? _

"Hey Luke," Rory said.

"Hi." As he set two mugs of coffee down on the table, he smiled at Lorelai, who returned a shy smile before she glanced down. 

"You guys ready to order?" he asked.

"Yeah, I think so," Lorelai replied. "Um, chicken fingers and onion rings for me."

"The biggest plate of chili fries in the world for me," Rory said.

"And pie and ice cream for dessert," Lorelai added.

Luke exhaled loudly as he wrote down the order. "Do you need me to explain how unhealthy that stuff is, and how it will inevitably be the cause of both of your deaths?"

"Nope," Rory replied.

"Hey, you should be the last person complaining about what we eat," Lorelai pointed out.

"And why is that?" he questioned.

Lorelai scoffed. "Because we are the main reason your little business here is so profitable. In fact, you should get on your knees and thank us every time we come in here and order junk since the proceeds of our meals are the main funding of the Luke Danes plaid shirt collection." She looked at Rory, who nodded in agreement. 

Luke rolled his eyes and muttered, "Uh huh. Be right back." He walked back to the counter and disappeared into the kitchen. 

Lorelai smiled at Rory. "I bet he'll think twice about lecturing us now." Rory cocked her head with doubt, and Lorelai shrugged. "Okay, probably not. So, plans for the rest of the day?"

"More homework," Rory replied with a sigh. 

"And then tonight we can rent some really stupid movies and mock them endlessly to relieve all the stress from the day-long homework binge?" Lorelai suggested.

"Sounds like a plan."

* * *

On Monday morning, Lorelai pulled Rory by her arm into the diner. "Mom, I don't have time for a Danish today," Rory complained.

"There's always time for Danishes," Lorelai replied. 

"No, the phrase is 'there's always room for Jell-o'," Rory corrected her. She looked out the window toward the bus stop. "It's gonna be here any minute."

"Don't worry, you'll make it," Lorelai assured her. She walked to the counter, calling out, "Luke, we're in a hurry, come out here!"

A few seconds later, Luke walked out of the kitchen. "Hey."

"Hey," Lorelai replied. "Rory needs a Danish to go – as fast as humanly possible."

"And if you can do it faster than that, it would be appreciated," Rory added.

"Coming up," Luke replied. He pulled out a paper bag from under the counter, used tongs to retrieve a Danish from the display plate, dropped it in the bag, then held it out toward Rory. "Fast enough?"

"Yes, thank you," Rory replied, grabbing the bag. She kissed Lorelai on the cheek. "Gotta go. Bye."

"Bye hon," Lorelai replied.

Rory rushed out the diner door and ran toward the bus stop. Lorelai watched her out the window and commented, "My daughter runs like such a girl."

"I can't imagine why," Luke said. "You want a Danish, too?"

"Yes, please," Lorelai replied, slipping onto a stool. She watched him as he set one on a plate and placed it in front of her. "Thanks."

"Yup." He watched her break off a piece and eat it. "So. . . you good?"

Lorelai swallowed her food, then smiled and nodded. "I'm good. I'd be better with some coffee." 

"Right," Luke said. He turned and poured her a cup, then set it in front of her.

"Thanks." She took a sip, then asked, "And you. . .are you good?"

"Yup, I'm good," he confirmed. 

"Good," she replied with a nod. She paused a moment, then asked, "Was that the lamest conversation ever?"

"Yeah, definitely." 

"I think we should set a goal to improve upon it next time," Lorelai suggested. 

"Sounds good," he replied. He picked up the coffeepot. "Be right back." As he walked around the room refilling coffee, Lorelai continued eating. 

When he returned to her at the counter, she glanced around to make sure no one could hear her, then asked quietly, "Hey, do you have my cell phone number?"

"Uh, yeah, I think so," he replied. "I don't know where, but it's somewhere."

She brushed off her hands, then reached into her purse and pulled out a pen. "Here." She grabbed his hand and wrote the number on his palm. "If you feel weird calling me at home or something because Rory might answer, you can just call that number." 

He glanced down at his hand. "Thanks. I'll call if I don't die from ink poisoning."

"Good." She took a sip of her coffee, then shooed him away. "Now get away before people get suspicious."

"I kind of work here, you know," he pointed out. "And people do know that you're my friend. It's not suspicious for me to be standing at the counter talking to you."

She leaned forward and whispered, "Yes, but you have that 'I'm standing near the person I'm secretly dating' look on your face."

"Oh yeah?" he asked. "You've seen that look before?"

"Yup," she replied. "And if someone like Miss Patty comes in here, she'll know what that look means, and then she'll assume that you're giving the look because of me or that guy." She jerked her thumb toward the burly man at the other end of the counter. "And by process of elimination, she'll have discovered our secret."

He narrowed his eyes and pursed his lips. "How's this?"

Lorelai smiled. "Much better. If you're gonna stand here, keep your face like that." 

* * *

That night, Rory was in her bedroom studying while Lorelai sat at the kitchen table flipping through a magazine. A faint ringing sound caught her attention, and it took her a minute to identify it. After figuring out it was her cell phone, she ran to the front hallway and pulled it out of her jacket pocket. 

"Hello?"

"Uh, hey," Luke's voice replied. "Is this a bad time?"

Lorelai smiled. "No, not at all. I see the ink poisoning didn't kill you."

"No, it did confine me to a hospital bed, though," Luke replied.

"Aw, sorry to hear that," Lorelai playfully sympathized.

"Yeah, well. . .I think I'll live."

Lorelai smiled to herself, then glanced toward Rory's bedroom. "Uh, hold on a sec, let me take the phone upstairs."

"Okay."

Lorelai walked up the stairs and into her bedroom, and she safely locked the door behind her. She collapsed on the bed and leaned against the headboard. "So, what's up?"

"Uh, nothing much," he replied. "I thought we could just. . .talk."

"Well, it's a little early in the relationship for phone sex, but if you think you're up for it. . . "

Luke's face reddened and he uncomfortably cleared his throat. "Uh, no, I mean, just regular talking."

"Aw, spoilsport. So. . . where are you?"

"Upstairs," he replied. 

"Alone?"

"Yeah. Jess is out somewhere."

"Ah. So. . .what'd you do today? Anything exciting happen?"

"Ordered a new bread shipment," Luke replied. 

"Oh yeah?"

"Yup. Got into an argument with Taylor."

"_About_ the bread shipment?"

"Nah, apparently his chicken salad sandwich didn't have enough mayo," Luke said, rolling his eyes. "But I couldn't just slap some more mayo on it, no sir. He wanted a completely new sandwich so that the mayo would be thoroughly mixed in." Luke sighed and muttered, "Moron."

"Hm, and I thought the customer was always right," Lorelai pondered aloud.

"Except when it's Taylor," Luke replied.

Lorelai smiled. "Right."

"Nothing much else happened," Luke concluded. "You?"

"Nah, boring day all around," Lorelai replied. "I don't even have a good Michel story to tell."

"Well, maybe he'll annoy you to death tomorrow and then you'll have something good."

"I hope so." 

There was a brief pause in the conversation before Luke exhaled loudly into the receiver. "Look, I wanted to. . .say a couple things before this situation got a little. . .well, deeper."

Lorelai narrowed her eyes with curiosity. "I'm listening."

"The other day, you were talking about how you suck at relationships and all that," he started.

"And I wasn't exaggerating, it's the truth," she interjected.

"Yeah, well. . . I'm not exactly an authority on the subject either," Luke hesitantly admitted.

"No?"

"I mean. . ." He swallowed hard before he released a soft sigh. "You do realize. . .that I'm not Mr. Romance, right? I'm not the guy who'll get all dressed up in a tux and bring you flowers and take you out for a candlelit dinner at a fancy restaurant. I don't even know of any fancy restaurants. That's just. . .it's not me."

"I know that," Lorelai said. "That's why I have another guy on the side to do that stuff with."

"Well, good, then," Luke said. "But. . .I know you."

Lorelai wrinkled her nose. "What's that supposed to mean? It doesn't sound good."

"It just means that. . .you think you're gonna be able to turn me into something I'm not."

"I do not," Lorelai scoffed. 

"Uh huh," Luke said with disbelief. "Well, I think it needs to be said up front that. . .you're not gonna be able to mold me into your ideal guy. What you see is what you get." 

"Well, I guess it's a good thing I like what I see, then," Lorelai replied, twirling her hair around her finger.

Luke smiled to himself. "And. . . ya know, that goes both ways. I mean, I'm not gonna try to change you and what not." 

Lorelai gasped. "Why would you wanna change me? I'm perfect."

"Oh, right, I forgot," Luke replied, rolling his eyes.

Lorelai giggled. "Seriously, though, Luke. . .I get it," she told him. "I compromise a little for you, you compromise a little for me. . .that's what relationships are about. Not about changing, just about compromising."

"Right, compromising," he repeated. 

"Yup."

"Okay." 

"Feel better now that you got all that out?"

"Yeah, actually, I do."

"Good." Lorelai paused and added, "This conversation is much better than the one earlier."

"Yeah, I think we achieved our goal."

"I don't want it to be over," she said. "Are you near the television?" 

"Yup."

She picked up her remote from her nightstand and turned on her tv. "Okay, let's watch something together."

"Over the phone?"

"Yeah. We gotta spend time together somehow. It'll be like a little date." 

"Hang on a second," he said. He walked over to the television and turned it on. "Okay, what do you wanna watch?"

* * *

A few days later, Lorelai and Sookie walked into the diner for lunch. They sat down at the table, and after a few minutes, Luke walked over to take their order. "Hey."

Lorelai smiled. "Hi."

"Hey Luke," Sookie replied. 

"I don't usually see you guys in here during the day," he observed. 

"Oh, well, I thought it'd be nice to try something a little different," Lorelai explained. 

"Different? You eat here everyday," Luke pointed out.

"But not for lunch," Lorelai replied. "So we get to eat with a different crowd." 

"Uh huh. So, what'll it be?"

"Burger, fries, and a coke," Lorelai replied.

"Chicken sandwich," Sookie replied. "And iced tea."

Luke scribbled the order on his pad. "Coming up." 

As he started to walk away, Lorelai said, "Hey, wait a second, Luke. Uh, I think I might've left my scarf in here a few days ago. Did anyone turn it in?" 

Luke froze momentarily, then slowly turned around and saw Lorelai giving him a sly smile. He glanced quickly at Sookie before he nodded toward Lorelai. "Uh, yeah, actually. . .I found one the other night and tossed it in the storage room," he replied. "You wanna come help me look for it, see if it's yours?"

Lorelai stood up. "Yeah. Be right back, Sookie."

"Okay," Sookie replied.

Luke led Lorelai to the storage room. Once they were inside, Lorelai closed the door and smiled at him. She rubbed her palms together and asked, "How's that for planning ahead, huh?"

"You're a genius," Luke replied. 

She leaned against the door, then grabbed onto his shirt and pulled him up against her. "Hi," she said, her breath tickling his lips.

"Hey," he replied. 

She slid her hands up to his collar, and with a soft tug, pulled his lips to hers and kissed him hungrily. The desire he'd been repressing for days all came out as he eagerly returned the kiss. He slipped one arm around her waist and pressed his other hand against the door. Her lips parted, and a soft moan escaped her throat as he began stroking her tongue with his.

When they finally pulled apart, Lorelai leaned her head against his shoulder. "Oh my God," she panted. "New rule – we cannot go that long between kissing ever again."

"Five days is definitely too long," Luke nodded in agreement.

She kissed him deeply again, then pulled back and said, "Listen, I was thinking that we should try to go out somewhere."

Luke narrowed his eyes skeptically. "What do you mean by go out?"

"I mean, like go out on a real date. Maybe tomorrow night, we can meet somewhere, like in another town, and just hang out, do something fun."

"I don't know. . . "

Lorelai pouted. "Come on, Luke. We wanna see if this dating thing will work, right?"

"Yeah. . . "

"Well, we should at least have one actual date to base it on," Lorelai said. "Come on, please? Just a movie or something, nothing big."

Luke stared at her for a moment, then shrugged and sighed. "Fine, nothing big." 

Lorelai smiled. "Thank you. Call my cell tonight and we'll talk about it." She leaned forward and kissed him. 

After a few seconds, he reluctantly pulled back from her. "We should get back out there before Sookie starts wondering about us."

"Right, yeah," she agreed. "Got the scarf?"

Luke walked over to a desk and pulled open a drawer. He pulled out the scarf and walked back over to her. "Have I mentioned you're a genius?" 

"Yes, you have," Lorelai replied, taking it from him. She kissed him one last time before she pulled the door open, and they walked back into the diner.

* * *

To be continued . . .

Thanks so much for the feedback! And Miss.Pebbles, don't worry, I didn't throw that inn stuff into the last chapter for no reason. ;) 


	8. Part 8

"Mystery Woman – part 8"

* * *

As Luke walked into the kitchen, Lorelai walked back over to the table. "The search for the missing scarf was successful," she announced as she sat down. She waved the scarf toward Sookie. 

Sookie smiled. "Oh, good. Is that the one you bought at the rummage sale?"

Lorelai nodded. "Yup. It must've slipped off when I took my coat off."

"Yeah, that happens sometimes," Sookie said. 

Luke walked over with their drinks and set them down on the table. "Here ya go."

"Thanks, Luke." Lorelai looked up at him. "And thanks again for. . .you know. . ." _Making out with me in the storage room_, was what she wanted to say, but instead she gestured to the scarf and finished, "For taking good care of Scarfy here."

Luke shrugged it off. "Oh, sure." 

Sookie tapped Luke on the arm. "Hey, I lost a pair of black leather shoes a few months ago. Any chance you have 'em back there somewhere?"

Luke narrowed his eyes at her. "How do you leave somewhere without your shoes?"

"Yeah, I'm curious about that, too," Lorelai added. 

"They were brand new," Sookie explained. "I'd just bought them at Sissy's, and then I went to a few other stores afterwards and I must've left the bag at one of them because when I got home – no bag with the shoes." 

"Aw, bummer," Lorelai said sympathetically. She looked up at Luke. "Got a bag of shoes back there in the storage room?"

Luke shook his head. "I'm pretty sure I don't, sorry."

"Are you positive?" Lorelai leaned forward on the table. "'Cause I could come back there and help you look around." She took a sip of her soda, and after a brief glance to assure that Sookie wasn't looking, she licked her lips suggestively. 

Luke quickly glanced down to hide the smile he knew was forming on his lips. _God, does she know what she does to me? _He cleared his throat and gestured toward the back. "Well, I guess it couldn't hurt to check the – "

Sookie interrupted by waving him off. "Nah, forget it. I don't even think I came in here that day anyway. They're gone forever."

"Okay, well, I'll go check on your food," Luke said. He turned and walked toward the counter.

"Poor shoes," Sookie frowned. "They probably got thrown away without ever getting to be worn."

"Aw, no, don't be sad about it," Lorelai consoled her. "I'm sure they're up in shoe heaven having fun with the millions of pairs of jellie sandals that everyone threw out in the eighties."

Sookie giggled. "I hope so." She stared at Lorelai for a moment, then smiled and nudged her with her elbow. "So what's up with you?"

"What do you mean?"

"You've undergone some sort of miracle mood transformation in the past week," Sookie replied. 

Lorelai scoffed. "I have not."

"You have, too," Sookie insisted. "The last few weeks you were moody and grumpy and. . .not yourself. And now, suddenly, you're back to normal."

Lorelai smiled. "Normal?"

"Well, as close to normal as someone like you can get," Sookie clarified with a smile. "The point is, you're back to being happy. So what happened?"

Lorelai aimlessly stirred her drink with her straw and thought about the real answer. _Oh, well, Luke and I are secretly dating, and it's only been a few days, but I can't remember the last time I went out with someone where everything felt this . . .right._ Lorelai shrugged and said, "Nothing happened. I was in a funk, but it went away."

"Okay, it went away," Sookie repeated. "Now that it's gone, you wanna tell me what was causing it?"

"Uh, well. . .no, not really," Lorelai replied. She smiled and added, "But thanks for asking."

Sookie tilted her head to the side. "Lorelai, come on, what was it?"

Lorelai spotted Luke walking toward them. "Oh look, food's here, let's eat." Luke set the plates on the table and they thanked him. 

When he had walked away, Sookie said, "So you're really not gonna tell me? I'm your best friend."

Lorelai sighed. _Yes, you are, and that's why I need to get out of this one with as little lying as possible. _"Look, Sookie, I _am_ gonna tell you," she said. "I promise. But not yet."

"Not yet?" 

"No, I don't wanna talk about it yet."

"But someday?" Sookie asked hopefully.

Lorelai smiled and nodded. "Someday I will definitely disclose to you the mysterious reason for the funk, but until then. . .please. . ."

Sookie nodded understandably. "No more mentions of the funk." 

Lorelai gave her an appreciative smile. "Thank you."

* * *

That night, Lorelai was sitting on her bed talking on her cell phone. "So I just told her that I would tell her someday, but not yet." 

"And she was satisfied with that?" Luke asked.

"Yeah, she said she wouldn't bring it up anymore."

"Wow. That's good." 

"Yup. Let us be thankful that she's not as persistent in her pursuit of gossip as Patty is, or else I'd still be sitting there trying to fend her off," Lorelai said. "So what about you. . .anything eventful happen today?"

"Uh, not really. Kissed a customer in the storage room."

Lorelai giggled. "Oh yeah? How was it?"

"Highlight of my week."

"How'd the customer like it?"

"No complaints as of yet."

"None to come either," she confirmed.

"Good to know," he replied. "So, uh, about this whole 'real date' idea. . .let's talk about it."

"Yes, let's, because I get the feeling you don't wanna do it," Lorelai said. "So. . .what's up?"

"I didn't say I don't wanna do it."

"Well, you didn't seem too thrilled about it."

Luke exhaled slowly. "Yeah, well. . . I just. . .I want to go, but it seems dangerous."

Lorelai let out a laugh. "Dangerous? Luke, it's a date, not an undercover mission where we have to locate and deactivate nuclear bombs."

"No, I just meant that. . .us going out somewhere together ups the chances of us being found out," he explained. "And I'm reluctant to take a risk like that since. . .well, I kinda like things the way they are."

His words surprised her. "You do? I kinda figured you'd hate the sneaking around."

"I know, I didn't expect to like it," he admitted. "But come on, think about it - you know the minute that this all comes out, we'll have Babette and Patty following us around, asking us about every stinkin' detail of every moment we spend together. It's nice being able to walk down the street without being harassed." 

"Yeah, but it'd be nice at some point for us to be able to walk down the street together," Lorelai pointed out. "I mean, you're making it sound like you want it to be like this forever." 

"No, not forever, but it wouldn't hurt to keep it like this for awhile. Things are going fine the way they are. And us going out somewhere risks that changing." 

"But Luke, don't you remember the reason that we're keeping it secret in the first place?"

"Yes, I remember the reason."

"The plan is for us to have some time to see if we'll work as a couple," Lorelai reminded him. "Thus, we have to actually go out and do something _as_ a couple in order for the plan to make sense."

Luke sighed softly. "Yeah, I know."

"I mean, we can't just keep it at this 'talking on the phone every night and kissing once in awhile' stage and expect the relationship to grow," Lorelai said. "We need to move things along and make a decision one way or another – either it'll work or it won't. Yes, being the prime fodder for the gossip mill will be annoying, but still. . .the sooner we figure it out, the better. You know what I mean?"

"Yeah, I hear ya," Luke replied. "Makes sense."

"So. . .I think that going out tomorrow is a good idea," Lorelai said. "Like I said earlier, we'll go to another town. Plus, it's a weeknight, so not too many people'll be out anyway." She paused a moment, then added, "And if you're still not convinced, I have a new skirt I wanna wear and it's pretty short."

Luke smiled. "Yeah, okay, you're right. We should go."

"See, I knew you'd come around. Was it the skirt comment?"

"So. . .what should we do?" he asked. 

Lorelai laughed. "Ah, skillfully avoiding the question. Nice."

"I thought so," he replied. "Listen, I think we should stay away from a movie."

"Not a movie guy?"

"No, I like movies, but we should make the most of the time that we'll be out together. We don't get that much time to ourselves to, ya know, talk and. . . stuff," Luke said. 

Lorelai giggled. "What does the 'stuff' category include?"

Luke continued, "So if we go to a movie, it'll be us sitting in a theater for two hours, not being able to talk. It's a waste of time."

"Hm, good point," Lorelai said. "But we could just talk through the movie like I usually do."

"I'd rather not," he replied. "We should just go somewhere where we can eat, hang out, talk without being shushed. . ."

"Okay, no movie, then," Lorelai said with a shrug. She thought for a moment, then smiled. "Oh, hey, I know. You like pizza?"

"Yeah, why?"

"I know this place that's about thirty minutes away," Lorelai said. "It's kinda like a pizza place, bar, and game room all in one."

"Game room?"

"Yeah, it has pool tables, air hockey tables, stuff like that," Lorelai explained. "It's fun. Completely casual."

"Uh huh."

"And even if you don't like the game stuff, the pizza's excellent," Lorelai added. "What do you say?"

"Yeah, I guess so," Luke replied. 

"You sure? We can find somewhere else if you – "

"No, it's fine," Luke interrupted. "It sounds good."

"Mom!" Rory's voice called from downstairs.

Lorelai's eyes widened. "Just a second!" she called back. She lowered her voice as she spoke into the phone, "I have to go. Tomorrow, I'll give you the directions and we can pick a time to meet."

"Okay."

"Bye Luke." Lorelai turned off the cell phone and jumped up from the bed. "Coming!" she called as she walked out of her bedroom. 

Rory was waiting at the bottom of the staircase with a bag of tater tots. "I had a craving. Do you want some?"

"Absolutely," Lorelai replied. "As I always say, nine o'clock at night is tater tot time."

Rory smiled. "I'll go put 'em on." She started walking to the kitchen, and Lorelai followed behind her. 

"Uh, so. . .do you have plans for tomorrow night?" Lorelai asked casually.

Rory shrugged. "Why, you wanna do something?" She spread the tater tots on a pan and slipped it into the oven.

"Uh, no. . .actually, I'm going out somewhere," Lorelai said hesitantly. 

"Oh yeah? Where?"

"Uh, just. . .out to dinner," Lorelai replied. 

"By yourself?"

"No, no, not by myself." Lorelai sat down at the table. "With. . .someone."

Rory sat down across from her. "Sookie?"

Lorelai shook her head. "Uh, no. . .actually, it's kind of a . . .date-type situation."

Rory's eyes widened with surprise. "Really? Who is he?"

Lorelai shrugged. "Uh, just this guy I met. . ." _Wow, you're pulling this off without lying at all so far._

"Met where?"

__

Ooh, that's a toughie. "Uh, well, I met him. . .here in Stars Hollow."

"At work?"

"Um, well, I _have_ seen him at the inn, yeah." _Ooh, good – that's not technically a lie._

"What's he look like? Is he cute?"

Lorelai smiled and nodded. "Yeah, real cute. And sweet. And funny." 

"Sounds like a good guy," Rory commented.

"Yeah, he is." 

"What's his name?"

Lorelai wrinkled her nose and waved Rory off. "Uh, listen, I don't really wanna talk about him yet, not even his name. You know, why bother wasting my breath on him if it's not gonna get serious, right?"

"You don't think it will?" Rory asked.

"Well, I don't know yet," Lorelai replied. "It might. . .and if it starts to, that's when I'll gladly play twenty questions with you about him – deal?"

"Deal. So where are you guys going?"

"Um, just out for pizza and drinks," Lorelai said. "Just a casual date."

"Sounds good." Rory smiled. "First dates are exciting. Do you know what you're gonna wear yet?"

"I have a general idea," Lorelai replied, standing up. "You wanna come up and evaluate my choice?" 

"Yeah, sure, show me." Rory followed Lorelai out of the kitchen and up the stairs to her bedroom.

* * *

The following night, Lorelai pulled into the parking lot of the pizza place slightly after seven. She turned off the engine, then scanned the parking lot for Luke's truck. "Aw, Luke, I hope you could follow my directions," she muttered. She glanced in the rearview mirror and checked her makeup.

A few minutes passed as Lorelai sat in her Jeep, intently watching the entrance of the parking lot, waiting for that familiar truck to pull in.

When it finally did, she smiled and climbed out of the car. Luke parked his truck a few spaces down from her, and she walked over to greet him. As he climbed out of the truck, he apologized, "Sorry I'm late."

"That's okay. Did you find it all right?" Lorelai asked. "I know my directions aren't always easy to follow."

"Yeah, the 'turn onto Brown Street, then make a left at the toilet' confused me until I saw the porta potty on the corner."

Lorelai giggled. "It's a well-placed landmark. Shows up in many a person's directions around here."

"I can imagine." Luke closed the truck door and slipped his keys into his pocket. "So. . ." 

Lorelai took a step toward him and touched his face. "You shaved."

"Yup."

"I like it." She stroked the smoothness of his cheek as she pressed her lips against his. Not breaking their contact, Luke brought his hands to her waist and leaned back against his truck, pulling her against him as the kiss deepened. 

When Lorelai finally pulled back, she smiled up at him. "So. . .like the skirt?"

Luke glanced down at it and nodded approvingly. "It's nice." He brought his gaze back up and cleared his throat. "Uh, so. . .should we eat?" Lorelai nodded and they started walking to the entrance.

* * *

Half an hour later, they were talking in their corner booth when the waitress set their individual pizzas in front of them. Luke glanced down at his broccoli-covered pie. "Wow, this is bigger than I thought it'd be."

"I told you the medium-sized was pretty filling," Lorelai reminded him.

Luke glanced at her even-bigger pie. "I can't believe you got an extra large. Are you gonna eat all that?"

Lorelai shrugged. "I don't know, maybe. Will you be impressed if I do?"

"Impressed, no. Nauseous, yes," he said.

She smiled and picked up a slice. Before she took a bite, she asked, "So. . .where did you tell Jess you were going?"

Luke took a sip of his beer. "Uh, actually, out with Leslie."

Surprised, Lorelai swallowed her food quickly. "Oh. So. . .he doesn't know that you guys broke up?"

"Nah. Never came up, so. . ." Luke's voice trailed off and he shrugged. "You know, it's better this way, though. I mean, I can still use her as a cover for something like this."

"Yeah, it works out," Lorelai agreed.

"Yup. What'd you tell Rory?"

"That I had a date," Lorelai replied. "I didn't give her any details besides that it was a guy that I met in town. Hardly any lying at all. I just told her I didn't wanna talk about it yet, and she understood."

Luke nodded. "Good. That's good."

* * *

When they had finished eating, they walked over to an air hockey table. "So, are you any good at this game?" Lorelai asked as she slipped four quarters into the slots.

"I haven't played in awhile, but I used to be able to hold my own," he replied with a nod.

"Oh yeah? Well, I happen to be pretty good at it," Lorelai warned. She picked up a paddle and tapped it on the table a few times. "Are you scared?"

Luke rolled his eyes. "Oh yeah, I'm shaking all over."

"Good. Let's play."

* * *

After a few games of air hockey, Luke gestured toward the line of pool tables. "How are you at pool?"

"Well, if the purpose of it is to get the white ball in the hole, then I'm a master," Lorelai said. 

"Come on. Let's play a game." Luke started walking across the room.

Lorelai followed behind him. "Aw, Luke, but I suck at it."

"So? It's just a game."

"Tsk. You know, I bet if I said I was great at it, you wouldn't be in such a hurry to play," Lorelai remarked. "But you just wanna try to get back at me for beating you three outta four times at air hockey."

Luke glanced over his shoulder with a smirk. She waited by one of the tables while he walked to the counter and paid for it. When he returned, he started racking the balls. 

"I call solids," Lorelai declared.

"You don't get to pick," he reminded her. "It's whatever you get in first."

"But solids are much more attractive than stripes, everyone knows that," she argued. "I love solids. I have to be solids. I'll be able to concentrate better on the game if I'm solids."

"How so?"

"Because if I'm stripes, I'll just be staring at all the solid balls wishing I was solids, and then that will directly affect my shooting performance," Lorelai explained. "If your mind's not in the game, then you might as well just quit, right?"

Luke rolled his eyes and raised his hands in defeat. "Fine, be solids, I don't care."

Lorelai grinned. "Thank you." 

They each grabbed a pool stick from the wall. Luke went first, and his forceful stroke scattered the balls around the table. One of the solid balls was sunk, and Lorelai clapped. "Yay, point for me."

Luke folded his arms across his chest. "Just take your turn." 

"Okay, let's see. . ." She walked around the table, eyeing the position of the balls. Finally, she prepared to shoot. 

After watching for just a few seconds, it was clear to Luke that she wasn't kidding about her skill level. "Aren't you right handed?" he asked.

"Yeah, why?" she replied.

"You're holding the stick wrong," he pointed out. "I think you might do better if you put the stick on the other side of your body." He demonstrated how to hold it. "Do it like this."

She stared at his grip for a few seconds, then tried to recreate it. "Like this?"

"Nah. Hold on." He rested his pool stick on the edge of the table, then walked over to her and helped position her hands on the stick. He pointed to the hole formed by her curved index finger and her thumb. "Now, you wanna keep this hole loose so that the stick can slide into it smoothly."

Lorelai giggled and glanced at him over her shoulder. "Oh my God, that was so dirty."

Luke rolled his eyes. "Come on, try it." He took a step back from her. 

She positioned her hands on the pool stick and leaned forward over the table. Luke swallowed hard as he tried to keep his eyes on the table and not her skirt. He moved over a few feet to the side to help avoid the temptation. 

She tried to shoot, and the stick missed the cue ball completely. She sighed and stood up straight. "I can't do it," she pouted.

"Yes, you can. Come on." He walked over and stood directly behind her. "Which ball are you going for?"

"The red one," she replied. 

"Okay, get your hands set up on the stick." Lorelai complied. "Good. Now, lean forward and line up the shot," he instructed her. She did, and was surprised when she felt his arms reach around her waist. "I'm gonna help you."

__

Wow, someone turn down the thermostat, 'cause it just went up like a billion degrees in here. Lorelai cleared her throat and said, "Yes, I noticed that." His large hands covered hers on the pool stick, tightening around her delicate fingers. Lorelai shut her eyes as Luke closed what little distance there was between them by leaning over her. _Oh my God. _He was pressed up against her tightly, and a surge of excitement ran through her body. Her heart was racing and she took several deep breaths to control her arousal. 

Behind her, he was having just as much trouble controlling it as she was, and the addictive smell of her perfume wasn't helping any. He tried to push all impure thoughts out of his head as he continued instructing her. "Uh, so. . .when it's all lined up, you just wanna.. . .like this. . ." He helped her shoot, and the red three-ball rolled swiftly into the corner pocket. He let go of the stick and stepped back from her. "Simple."

Lorelai turned around and smiled. "Wow, you're a good teacher." They stared at each other for a moment, both of them breathing a little more heavily than pool players normally do. They leaned toward each other at the same time and kissed passionately. 

When they pulled apart, Lorelai nibbled on her bottom lip for a few seconds as she stared at him. She finally gestured toward the door. "Uh. . .do you wanna get outta here?"

Luke shrugged. "Do you?"

Lorelai nodded. "Mmhmm."

"Let's go." 

* * *

As they walked out into the parking lot, Lorelai said, "I know a place we can go. Follow me in the truck."

"What is it?" 

"A nice little secluded parking lot," she replied. 

They got into their cars, and Luke followed Lorelai through the town. _Oh my God, Lorelai, what are you doing? You're gonna go parking – how old are you, fifteen? You really want things to happen with Luke like this – in the front seat of his twelve-year old truck? _Lorelai shook her head and rationalized, _No, we'll just have some fun, a little making out, we won't let it go that far. A little making out never hurt anybody._

She turned down a dimly lit, narrow road, with only a few houses scattered along it. When she reached the end, she turned into an empty parking lot surrounding a large church.

Luke parked next to Lorelai's Jeep and watched as she climbed out. She pulled open his passenger-side door and stuck her head in. "A parking lot," she announced. She climbed in next to him and shut the door. "My God, I feel like we're teenagers."

"Speaking of God. . ." Luke said, glancing up at the church looming in front of the truck. "Not only are we acting like teenagers, we're acting like them right in front of Him."

"Anywhere we do it, it's in front of God, Luke," she pointed out. 

"Yeah, well, being right in front of a church makes it seem more . . ." His voice trailed off as he stared at her sitting next to him. _Lorelai Gilmore is sitting a foot away from you, looking incredible, waiting for you to kiss her – and you're talking about churches and God? What's wrong with you?_

Her body was turned slightly toward him, her head resting against the seat, her soft curls hanging over her shoulder. She rubbed his knee and said, "What are you thinking?"

__

Well, I'm mainly focusing on the fact that your hand is on my knee and I never want you to move it. Luke shook his head. "Nothing." She smiled and beckoned him toward her with her finger. 

He put aside his disappointment that she moved her hand and he scooted closer to her. He slipped an arm behind her back, and she pulled his face downward, guiding his lips to hers. "Mmm," was the soft sound that escaped her throat, the sound that encouraged him to kiss her with more intensity. 

As he moved his lips down to her neck, she fumbled with undoing the buttons of his flannel shirt until she finally gained better access to the T-shirt underneath. She ran her hands over the thin material, feeling the muscles of his arms and chest.

When she slipped a hand underneath his shirt, Luke's body trembled at the feeling of her hand directly against his skin.While she stroked his stomach with her fingertips, he deduced that a little hand exploration on his part would also be acceptable. He began running his hand up and down her leg, always stopping just below the hemline of her skirt. 

He moved his hand up to her waist and hesitated a moment. _Is she gonna think I'm moving too fast? _He pulled back from kissing her and stared into her eyes._ Well, she _did_ stick her hand up my shirt first. _His hand soon disappeared beneath her shirt.

She leaned her head back and exhaled loudly toward the ceiling of the truck. _Luke's hand. . .my stomach. . .the rubbing. . .oh my God, that feels incredible._

When he finally worked up the courage, he started to move his hand upward. She lifted her head to look at him. _Tell him before it goes too far, Lorelai. _ "Wait, Luke. . ."

Luke quickly pulled his hand back and an embarrassed look washed over his face. "Sorry. That was too fast, I'm sorry."

Lorelai shook her head. "No, no, that's not it. Seriously, there's nothing I want more than for you to put your hand back where it was, but. . ." She panted slightly to catch her breath. "But before things get more heated, you should know that. . .Well, I don't want this to be. . .I mean, I don't think our first time should be when we're cramped in the front of a truck, you know?" 

Luke nodded understandably. "Yeah, no, that's fine, that's. . .yeah. You're right. It shouldn't be like this."

"Are you mad?"

"Why would I be mad?"

Lorelai shrugged. "I don't know. Because here I am, acting like an older version of Trishelle or something. I mean, bringing you to a parking lot, acting all. . .well, I feel like I was leading you on a little. I should've mentioned right away that I hadn't planned on. . .it going too far."

"It's okay." Luke narrowed his eyes at her and added, "Acting like who?"

"Never mind. But, I mean, I wanna keep doing what we're doing, but just not. . .ya know, I don't wanna. . .I don't think we should. . ." Lorelai rolled her eyes and sighed. "God, I can't even form a complete sentence."

Luke held up his hand. "Don't worry, I get it." 

"Okay, good." Lorelai leaned back against the seat and commanded, "Put your hand back." Luke smiled and complied as he leaned in to kiss her.

* * *

Not long after, Lorelai and Luke both climbed out of the truck. Luke walked over to Lorelai's side and she smiled at him. "How cute are you walking me to my car? My car, I should add, that's only three feet away."

Luke shrugged. "What am I gonna do, just push you out of the truck and say 'see ya later'?"

"Some guys probably would," she replied. 

"Yeah, well, I'm not some guys," he replied.

"No, you're not." Lorelai draped her arms over his shoulder as she kissed him softly. 

He gripped her waist and pulled her closer. He pulled back from the kiss and said, "So. . .the date. . ."

"I think it was successful." 

"Seemed to be," he agreed. 

"Would've been more successful if we'd gotten ice cream, though," she added. "Ice cream always makes a date better."

"Unless you're allergic to it," he countered.

"Good point."

"Lactose intolerant."

"Another good one."

"Or you don't like ice cream."

Lorelai gasped. "As if that kind of sick person exists!"

Luke smiled. "So. . .uh, we should probably get going."

Lorelai nodded. "You gonna follow me?"

"Yeah, probably 'til we get near Woodbury, then I'll break off and come home through the back roads," Luke said. "So it doesn't look like. . .you know. . ."

"Right, good plan." They were both quiet for a moment before Lorelai said, "So. . .I guess I'll see you tomorrow at the diner."

Luke nodded. "I'll be there." He leaned down and kissed her. "Bye."

Lorelai smiled. "Bye Luke." He waited for her to climb into the Jeep, then he closed the door for her and walked back to the truck.

* * *

That night, Lorelai walked into the house slightly before eleven. Rory, hearing the front door shut, walked out of her bedroom calling, "Mom?"

"Yeah, it's me." She hung up her purse and dropped her keys on the hall table.

Rory walked over and kissed her on the cheek. "Hey, how was it?"

Lorelai smiled. "Uh, well, it was pretty great, actually. We had a lot of fun."

Rory smiled. "Yeah? You going out with him again?"

Lorelai nodded. "Probably." She walked into the living room and sat on the couch.

"Wow, finally met someone worthy of a second date," Rory commented. "Haven't seen that happen in awhile."

"Gee, thanks, kind daughter, for bringing up just how pitiful my dating life has been as of late," Lorelai said, rolling her eyes.

"Oops, sorry," Rory said. "But it looks like it's picking up, right?"

Lorelai smiled. "Yeah, maybe."

"Good, I'm glad. So, do I get to find out his name yet?" 

"Uh, maybe next week," Lorelai said quickly. "How was your night?" 

Rory shrugged. "Just another regular night in the life of an overachieving private school girl. Lots of reading and writing."

"Ooh, my favorite kind of night," Lorelai said. She stood up and started walking toward the kitchen. "I need ice cream."

"You didn't get ice cream on the date?" Rory asked, following her. "Doesn't he know that ice cream makes – "

"Any date better," Lorelai finished. She smiled and nodded. "I told him, so now he knows for the next date."

* * *

To be continued. . . 

Thanks so much to everyone for the reviews. I really appreciate the feedback. :)


	9. Part 9

"Mystery Woman – part 9"

* * *

The next morning, Lorelai and Rory walked into the diner for breakfast. They sat down at a table, and soon Luke walked over with two cups of coffee. "Hey."

"Hi Luke," Rory replied.

Lorelai glanced up at him with a sly smile. "Hi. Uh, how are ya?"

"Pretty good, you?"

"I'm fine."

"Good, good." Luke nodded aimlessly for a few seconds as he stared at her, then finally broke out of his daze. He pulled out his order pad and cleared his throat. "Uh, what can I get you?"

"Two eggs, two pancakes, two slices of bacon, and a chocolate donut," Lorelai replied, ticking the things off on her fingers. "And any comments about the nutritional value of that order can be directed to my nutritionist, Ronald McDonald, who has personally assured me that the aforementioned food items are part of a well-balanced breakfast."

Luke eyed her curiously as he wrote it down. "No comment. And you?" he asked Rory.

"Just the pancakes and bacon for me," Rory replied.

Luke scribbled down the order. "I'll be back." He turned and started walking to the counter.

Lorelai giggled, but Rory interrupted, "No, we don't need to hear a Terminator joke."

Lorelai frowned. "Aw, come on!"

"Forget it."

Lorelai sighed. "Fine." She took a sip of her coffee, then gave an impressed moan. "Mm, does this taste especially good today or is it just me?"

Rory tasted her coffee and agreed, "Very delectable. So, tell me, what's the plan for this weekend?"

"Weekend?"

"At the inn," Rory clarified.

"Oh, right. Okay, well, the wedding's on Saturday afternoon, and the convention people are arriving at like eight-thirty the next morning, so as soon as the wedding reception's over, everything's gotta be cleaned and reorganized and decorated right away that night," Lorelai explained. 

"That sucks," Rory commented.

"Yeah, but the good news is that it's an older couple getting married. I think they're both in their late thirties, early forties, so they probably have a lot of older friends and relatives. . ."

"Ah, who probably like to go to bed early," Rory pointed out.

"Exactly, so I'm hoping that it'll end a little earlier than a normal wedding reception," Lorelai said.

"Hopefully," Rory added. "Then you can get a jump on the cleaning up."

"Exactly."

Luke walked over and set a small plate on the table. "Here's the donut. The rest of the stuff'll take a few more minutes."

"Thanks," Lorelai replied. As Luke walked away, she eyed the donut and let out a disappointed sigh. "Aw, I forgot to specify my preference for sprinkles."

"Tsk, suck it up and eat one sprinkle-free," Rory said.

Lorelai stood up. "I'm just gonna go check to see if there are any up there with sprinkles first." She picked up the plate and walked up to Luke at the counter. "Hi."

"Hey. Something wrong?" he asked, gesturing to the donut.

"Uh, no. Well, it's just. . .well, I forgot to mention that I'd prefer one with sprinkles," Lorelai said.   


"Oh, sorry."

"No, it's my fault, I didn't mention it," Lorelai said. She glanced at the donut display. "Oh, but you don't have any with sprinkles anyway."

He followed her gaze. "No, guess not."

"That's okay. Donuts can be just as satisfying without sprinkles."

"But I might have a container of sprinkles in the kitchen," Luke said. "I could go find it and you could pour them on yourself."

"Oh, no, that's okay," Lorelai said, waving him off. "You have more important things to do than to go on a sprinkle hunt for me."

"It's no problem," Luke said. He glanced down and saw that his hand was just a few inches from hers on the counter. He moved it closer and brushed his thumb against hers. "It'll only take a second."

Lorelai felt that familiar chill – the one that ran through her body with his touch. She slowly pulled her hand away and smiled at him. Luke gestured toward the kitchen. "So. . .uh. . .want me to go find 'em?"

Lorelai nodded. "Yeah, sure, give me some." She shook her head slightly and added, "Uh, sprinkles. . .I mean, give me some _sprinkles_. That'd be good. You don't mind?"

Luke shook his head. "Not at all. I wanna give you some." He stared at her pointedly for a few seconds before he added, "You know, sprinkles."

Lorelai smirked and nodded. "Thanks." She took a few steps backwards. "So. . .I'll be. . ." She gestured to her table.

Luke nodded. "Okay."

Lorelai turned and walked back to the table. 

"So, get everything straightened out?" Rory asked.

Lorelai nodded. "Yeah, Luke's gonna find some sprinkles."

"He takes good care of us," Rory commented.

Lorelai smiled and glanced toward the counter. "Yes, he does." 

* * *

When they'd finished eating, Rory headed to the bus stop while Lorelai walked up to the counter to pay the check. Taylor was sitting near the register, and as she waited for Luke to walk out of the kitchen, she said, "Hey Taylor."

He looked up from the notepad he was writing on. "Oh, Lorelai, hello."

"What's that?" she asked.

He glanced down at the notepad. "Oh, just making a list of things to cover at the next town meeting."

Lorelai glanced at the list. "Seems kind of long."

"Well, it's roughly the same amount of items I cover at every other town meeting," he said.

"Really? It never feels like we cover that much stuff."

"Well, I'd attribute that to the fact that you always come late and miss half of the discussions," Taylor bitingly pointed out.

Lorelai smiled. "Hm, good point."

Luke walked out of the kitchen and saw her at the counter. "Hey. All ready?"

Lorelai turned to him and held out her money. "Yup."

Luke opened the cash register and gave a quick glance toward Taylor before he said to her, "Uh, if you have a few minutes, now's a good time to talk about that thing you wanted to talk about."

Lorelai narrowed her eyes. "What thing?" 

He pursed his lips and darted his eyes toward Taylor, who wasn't looking at them but could surely hear the conversation. "Uh, didn't you have something you wanted me to fix?" Luke asked, tilting his head to the side. 

Lorelai shrugged in confusion. "What?" 

Luke sighed loudly and leaned forward on the counter. "You know, you said you wanted to talk about fixing that thing. . .so maybe you have a minute now to _talk_ about it?"

Lorelai finally caught on and she nodded quickly "Oh, right, right, yeah. The thing in the . . yeah. . .now's a good time to talk about that."

"Good." Luke closed the cash register. "Let's go outside and we can. . .yeah. . ." He walked out from behind the counter, and Lorelai followed him out onto the sidewalk.

"Smooth," Lorelai commented.

"You're the one that didn't catch on," Luke said.

"Sorry, my mind wasn't in 'secret dating' mode," Lorelai said. "It was in 'I just ate too much' mode."

"Talk to your nutritionist about that," Luke said. They started walking toward the gazebo and saw Miss Patty walking toward them. "Dammit, Patty."

"It's okay." As they neared her, Lorelai said loudly, "So I try turning the knob and it turns a little bit, but then it just gets. . ." Her voice trailed off as they reached Patty. "Hi Patty."

"Hello, hello," she replied. "What are you two doing?"

"Oh, I was having some trouble in my bathroom," Lorelai explained. "So I thought I'd get some advice from Mr. Fix-It over here." She patted Luke on the arm.

Luke nodded in agreement. "Yup, that's what we're doing. Just. . .talking about bathroom fixtures."

"Ah, sounds interesting," Patty commented. She walked away calling, "See you later."

Lorelai smiled up at Luke. "See, she's easy to fool sometimes."

Luke glanced warily toward Patty. "Uh huh." 

They continued walking toward the gazebo and sat down on the bench. Lorelai rested her purse between them and folded her hands in her lap. "So, what's up?"

Luke leaned forward and stared down at his shoes. "Uh, I was just thinking about something you said last night."

Lorelai winced. "Uh oh. Good or bad?"

He leaned back against the bench and turned to her. "Well, I don't know. I'm not sure."

"Okay, let's clear it up, then," Lorelai said. "When did I say it?"

"In the truck, when we were. . ." His voice trailed off. "Well, you know. . ."

Lorelai smiled. "Yes, I do know."

"Yeah, and you said that – "

"Wait, are you still hung up on that Trishelle reference?" Lorelai asked. "It's this girl on the Real – "

"No, that's not it," he interrupted. He closed his eyes for a moment, then opened them and slowly exhaled. "You said that. . .you didn't want last night to be our first time."

"Yes, I did say that," Lorelai agreed, eyeing him curiously. "So. . ." 

"So. . .does that mean that you. . ." He gestured aimlessly with his hands as he searched for the words. ". . . want there to be a first time?"

Lorelai quickly glanced down and fidgeted with the strap of her purse. "Uh, well. . .you know. . . um. . ." she stammered. She brought her gaze up to him and sighed. "Why are you asking me this?"

Luke shrugged. "Just seeing if we're on the same page."

"Are we?"

"Depends on what your answer is."

They stared at each other silently for several seconds before Lorelai nodded. "Yes."

"Me, too," he replied. 

They were both quiet until Lorelai finally broke the silence. She smiled and shook her head slightly. "Okay, I don't think I've ever sat down with someone and had a 'do you wanna have sex' conversation before. This is a first. A slightly _weird _first. And now it's starting to freak me out. Stop looking at me like that." She blocked his eyes with her hand.

He smiled and pushed her hand away. "Look, I'm only bringing it up because, under the circumstances, we should talk about what it means."

"What do you mean?

"We wanted to take time to see if we thought this would work out, you and me," Luke said, gesturing to the two of them. "And obviously, since we both want to. . .well, move on to that level. . .it says that we both want the relationship to go further. Which is exactly what we wanted to figure out with this whole secret plan thing."

Lorelai thought it over. "Makes sense."

"Yeah," Luke said. "I'm just saying that. . .it seems like we're both leaning toward the same direction. And that's good."

"Yeah, that's good," Lorelai agreed with a nod. She glanced down at the ground, pondering something, when Luke stood up and disrupted her thoughts. 

"I better get back," he said, gesturing toward the diner.

Lorelai stood up and nodded. "Right. Yeah. I should get to work."

"Yeah. . .so. . .I'll see ya later?"

Lorelai smiled. "Yup."

He walked down the gazebo steps, then looked over his shoulder and called, "And I'll come check out that bathroom when I get a chance."

"Thanks," she called back. She smiled to herself as she picked up her purse and started walking to work.

* * *

On Saturday night, Lorelai, Rory, and Lane walked into the diner. Lorelai took a deep breath when she saw Luke at the counter. She needed to figure out a way to talk to him alone.

Luke looked over at them from the counter. "Wow, you guys look all. . .fancy."

"Hm, I think that was slightly complimentary," Lorelai said to Rory and Lane.

"We'll take what we can get," Rory said.

They walked to the counter and sat down. "There's a wedding at the inn tonight," Lorelai said. 

Luke nodded. "Oh, right."

"And we're helping out," Rory added.

"Is it over already? It's kinda early, ain't it?" Luke asked.

"No, it's not over yet," Rory replied. "We just left to get some dinner."

"Then we're going back," Lorelai added.

"Well, they are," Lane said. "I have to be home soon."

"Isn't there food at the wedding?" Luke asked.

Lorelai scoffed. "You don't just sit down at somebody's wedding reception and start eating with them. That's so rude."

Rory rolled her eyes. "She's tried it before."

Lorelai nudged Rory with her elbow. "Shush." 

"I'm not surprised," Luke said. "But couldn't Sookie make you something?"

"We asked her, but she kind of yelled at us," Lane said.

"She's a little stressed out about the cake looking perfect," Lorelai said. "You know how she gets."

"Yes, I do," Luke replied. "So, what do you guys want? Burgers?"

"Yes, please. With fries," Rory said.

"And onion rings," Lane added. 

"And chocolate milkshakes," Lorelai added.

Luke shook his head slightly as he jotted the order down, then walked into the kitchen. 

Lorelai tapped her fingers on the counter as she pondered when she could talk to Luke. Finally, an idea came to her and she turned to the girls. "Uh, hey, maybe instead of us going to get Michel's stuff after dinner, you could run there now and get it. It'll save time."

"Good idea," Rory replied. 

"Yeah, we can go," Lane added.

Ah, you're a genius Lorelai. "Great." Lorelai pulled the list and some money out of her purse and handed it to Rory, and the two girls walked out of the diner. 

A few minutes later, Luke walked out of the kitchen with the three milkshakes. "Where'd they go?" he asked, gesturing to the two empty stools.

"They had to pick up some things for Michel from the market," Lorelai explained. "He was mad that we were leaving for dinner so we offered to bring him back something. He gave us a shopping list."

Luke nodded. "Ah." He lined the milkshakes up on the counter and dropped three straws next to them. "There ya go."

"Thanks." Lorelai picked up one of the straws, and glanced down at the counter as she fidgeted with it. _This is your chance, Lorelai. You're alone with him. Talk to him._

Luke watched her hands for a few seconds before he asked, "Something wrong?"

She looked up at him. "What? Oh, no, I'm just. . .thinking about something."

"I can see that," he replied.

Lorelai cleared her throat and glanced around. No one was nearby, but she lowered her voice anyway. "Listen, um, I wanted to talk to you."

"About what?"

"Well, uh, you see. . . I'm gonna be at the inn pretty late tonight," Lorelai started.

"Yeah, I remember you mentioned that the other day," Luke said.

"Yeah. . . and I was thinking about . . .well, I was thinking that maybe. . ." She exhaled loudly. _Are you really gonna do this? Maybe this isn't a good idea. _

"Thinking what?" Luke prompted.

She locked her gaze with his. "That you might wanna. . .come by. To the inn. Later tonight. There are some empty rooms and. . .well. . .we could. . . " Her voice trailed off. _Oh my God, you just invited Luke to the inn to sleep with you. That sounded so hooker-ish. That sounded like a scene out of a corny late-night movie on Cinemax._

__

Oh my God, she just propositioned you. His eyes widened and he stammered, "Oh, uh, well. . ." 

"I mean, only if you want to," Lorelai quickly added. She leaned toward him and lowered her voice even more. "I was just thinking that, since Jess is usually. . ." She gestured to the ceiling. "And Rory's at my house. . . this would be a good chance for us to be alone." 

Luke slowly nodded. "Right, yeah, being alone. . .would be good." 

"Only if you want to," she repeated. "I mean, I just brought it up because . . .you know, we were talking about it the other day, and then that made me start thinking about how there's not much opportunity for us to be alone."

"No, there's not," he agreed.

"And then tonight I saw that there were some empty rooms and. . .I was gonna be there late anyway, so I just got this crazy idea," Lorelai said, her voice practically a whisper. "I know this is probably kind of weird, though, me inviting you up to a room to. . . " Her voice suddenly trailed off, and she sighed as she shook her head toward the counter. "God, forget it. It sounded better in my head, but now that I'm hearing it aloud, it's just. . . .I can't believe I just came out and said it like that. Just rewind this conversation back five minutes and – "

"What time?" he interrupted.

Surprised, Lorelai's eyes widened slightly. "What?"

Luke reached across the counter and put his hand on top of hers. "What time should I be there?"

A smile slowly formed on her lips. "Uh, maybe like 11:30-ish. Is that too late?"

Luke shook his head. "It's fine. What room?"

Lorelai reached into her purse and pulled out a room key. "Twenty-two." She slipped it into Luke's hand and he quickly put it in his pocket. "Park in the back lot, go in the back door. There are stairs right when you walk in."

Luke nodded. "Got it."

"I'll meet you up there," she said. "And bring your toolbox."

Luke smirked. "I kinda planned on it."

Lorelai smiled and half-rolled her eyes. "No, I mean, your real toolbox, the one you keep your hammers and other tool-type stuff in."

Luke felt slightly embarrassed. "Oh, sorry. What for?"

"So if someone sees you coming or leaving, you can say it was an emergency situation, that you were just fixing something for me."

Luke gave her an impressed nod. "Always thinking ahead."

Lorelai smiled. "I know." The bell on the door jingled, and she turned around to see Rory and Lane walk into the diner. She glanced at Luke and mouthed, "11:30." 

He nodded, then gestured toward the kitchen. "I'll go check on the food."

As he walked away, Lorelai turned back to the girls. "Get everything?"

Lane held up the Doose's Market bag. "Yup."

"Great, good job," Lorelai said. "Uh, you're just in time. I think the food's almost done."

"Oh, good, I'm starved," Rory replied. "Did Luke keep you company while we were gone?"

Lorelai smiled and nodded. "Yeah, he did."

* * *

Later that night, Lorelai and Rory had both changed into jeans and T-shirts, and were helping the inn workers clean up the dining room. Rory dropped a pile of tablecloths into the large rolling laundry bin, then put her hands on her hips. "Okay, what next?" 

Lorelai, who was taking down the wedding decorations, glanced over at her. "Um, could you roll that down to the laundry room for me?"

"Sure." Rory nodded and stifled a yawn.

"Then you can head on home," Lorelai added. "Get some sleep."

"No, it's okay," Rory replied. "I can stay and help you some more."

"Honey, you've been here for like eight hours," Lorelai reminded her. "You're tired, and you know as well as I do that if you go to bed too late tonight, it'll completely throw off your sleep schedule for the week."

"I know, but I don't want you to be here all night cleaning up by yourself," Rory pointed out.

Lorelai gestured around. "There are other people here."

"But – "

"Rory, please," Lorelai said. "There's no need for _both_ of us to be on a crappy sleep schedule. Hell, I'll probably just end up crashing in a room here tonight, so you might as well go home and get comfy in your own bed." 

Rory shrugged. "I feel bad, though. There's a lot more work to do."

Lorelai walked over to her. "Honey, these people and I – we _have_ to stay here and clean up and ruin our sleeping patterns. You don't – you're a kid, you need sleep. Go on home. You can take the Jeep, and I'll just walk home tomorrow morning."

Finally convinced, Rory nodded. "Okay, fine, I'll go." 

"Good. Go on and take that down to the laundry room and I'll go get the car keys from the office," Lorelai said. As Rory started wheeling the laundry bin out of the room, Lorelai let out a sigh of relief and went to get the keys. 

* * *

Up in his apartment, Luke stood in front of the bathroom mirror in his jeans and a T-shirt, towel-drying his hair. He was trying to ignore the slight feeling of nervousness that had been running through his body all night. When he'd woken up that morning, he never imagined that Lorelai Gilmore would be walking into the diner that night and offering him a room key. He still couldn't believe it.

But she had. And he'd accepted it. And now he was getting ready for the night he'd thought about for a very long time. 

When his hair was dry, he brushed his teeth, then grabbed the flannel shirt from the back of the door and walked out of the bathroom. He sat down on the bed and started putting his socks on. 

"Since when do you take showers at eleven o'clock at night?" a voice asked from behind him.

Startled, Luke jumped and turned around to find Jess standing near the couch. "Jesus. When the hell did you get here?"

"Last year, don't you remember?"

Luke rolled his eyes. "When did you get _home_?"

"A few minutes ago," Jess replied. "You going out somewhere?" Luke didn't respond. "Well, let's see, you just took a shower and got dressed, and now you're putting your shoes on," Jess observed. "Looks to me like you're going out."

"So what's your point?" Luke grumbled.

"No point. But since Plaid Shirts 'R Us just closed a few minutes ago, I'm wondering where someone like you would be going at this hour."

"I don't have a curfew," Luke reminded him.

"Where you going?"

"None of your business."

Jess walked toward him with a smirk. "Oh, let me guess. . . maybe we're gonna pay the girlfriend a little late night visit?"

"Jess," Luke warned.

"What'd, she call and invite you over for some late-night action, or you just gonna show up and surprise her?" Jess asked.

Luke stood up and pulled his flannel shirt on. "Shut up." 

"When you coming back?" Jess asked.

Luke walked over to grab his baseball cap, mumbling, "I don't know."

Jess tilted his head. "Aw, might do a little cuddling afterwards? How cute." 

"Once again, I repeat – shut up," Luke said sternly.

Jess walked past him toward the bathroom. "Just remember what they tell you in health class, Uncle Luke, – "

"Don't call me that," Luke interrupted.

"Safety is always the top priority," Jess said with mock seriousness. With that, he smirked and closed the bathroom door.

* * *

When it was almost 11:30, Lorelai sent Michel home, then told the few remaining staff members that they could finish rearranging the tables and chairs first thing in the morning. She grabbed her things from her office, said goodnight to Roger at the front desk, then headed upstairs.

As she approached room 22, she felt a mixed feeling of nervousness and excitement. She pulled out the spare room key she'd taken from the front desk and inserted it into the lock. She slowly pushed open the door, and when she saw that the light was on inside the room, she assumed that Luke was already inside.

Sure enough, when she walked into the room, she saw him standing near the foot of the bed. She smiled as she closed the door behind her. "Hey."

He felt relieved to see her, and a smile formed on his lips. "Hi."

She dropped her stuff near the door and walked over to him. Their lips met in a tender kiss, one that Lorelai quickly pulled back from. "Wait, please tell me you don't think I'm a bimbo."

Luke let out a surprised laugh. "What?"

Lorelai took a step back from him. "All night long, I kept thinking that it was way too forward of me to just invite you up to a room like I did, and I know you must think that I'm some kind of crazy, presumptuous, self-assertive – "

"I don't think anything like that," he interrupted. "Calm down."

"I mean, I only did it because we'd been talking about it and I just thought it'd be a good chance for us to finally be alone," Lorelai explained.

"I know that," he replied. 

"I don't normally just go up to guys and ask them back to the inn like this," Lorelai continued. 

"Glad to hear it," he said.

"And I don't usually sit down with a guy and plan when we're going to sleep together," Lorelai said. "I mean, it usually just happens naturally. . .but under the circumstances – "

"Lorelai, I get it," Luke interrupted. "Stop worrying about it."

Lorelai sighed loudly and nibbled on her bottom lip. "So you don't think any less of me?"

Luke took a step forward and caressed her shoulders. "Not at all."

Lorelai exhaled softly. "Okay." She kissed him, then wrapped her arms loosely around his neck and hugged him. She glanced over his shoulder and saw his toolbox sitting on the floor. She pulled back and smiled. "You brought Bert."

He raised his eyebrows. "Huh?"

She pointed to the toolbox. "Bert, you brought him."

Luke followed her gaze, and nodded. "Oh, yeah."

Suddenly, her eyes widened and she let out a small gasp. "Oh shoot. I forgot to tell you to bring a. . .um, do you have a. . ." She formed a square with her fingers.

Luke quickly caught on and nodded. "Yeah, don't worry." He patted the front pocket of his jeans.

Lorelai let out a small sigh of relief. "Okay, good, good, that's good. Very good – you are very prepared. It's like having my own little Boy Scout." 

"Okay, that's kind of a creepy comparison for this particular scenario," Luke commented.

"Right, it is, sorry." _Great, now you're acting like a bimbo and a pedophile_. Luke walked over and sat on the bed, and she asked, "What are you doing?"

"Taking off my shoes," he replied.

"Oh. Good idea, removing the shoes is always good." She sat next to him, and they both took off their shoes and socks. 

They turned to face each other on the bed, both of them smiling uncertainly. _Oh my God, is there anyone else in the world who can make a backwards baseball cap look that good?_ She reached toward him, and he watched as she began undoing the buttons on his shirt. 

Luke swallowed hard. _Lorelai Gilmore is starting to undress you. Deep breaths, Luke, deep breaths. _

When she had finished with the buttons, she started to push the shirt off of him, then pulled back. "Hm."

__

She stopped. Why did she stop? "What's wrong?" he asked.

"I just wasn't sure how you wanted to do this. I mean, did you wanna take off your shirt yourself or did you want me to take it off for you or. . ." Her voice trailed off and she shrugged.

Luke narrowed his eyes at her. "Do you always. . .uh, talk things out beforehand like this?"

"Only when I'm nervous," she admitted.

He took her hand into his. "Why are you nervous?"

Lorelai gave a half-shrug as she stared down at the comforter. "I don't really know."

He stroked her arm with his fingertips, sending a chill through her body. "Look, we don't have to do this tonight if you're not ready or if you don't want to or whatever. I have no problem with waiting. I've been waiting for years, a little longer won't kill me."

Lorelai smiled at him. "Okay, just a little side note. . .saying that you've been waiting for years kinda just added a whole lot of pressure on my part."

"Sorry about that."

"It's okay." She took a deep breath. "But I'm not nervous about us . . .I swear, I really want this to happen."

"So do I."

"I just have other stuff in the back of my mind," Lorelai said. "I think it's just. . .I've been thinking about our conversation in the gazebo, about how we're both leading in the same direction. . ."

"Uh huh. . ."

"And I think that. . . I'm ready to tell Rory," she declared. 

"You are? Really?"

Lorelai nodded. "Yeah, I really need to tell her. I've never kept something this big from her before and I think that's why I have this little nagging feeling in my gut all the time," she said, rubbing her stomach. "I mean, we can still keep it a secret from the town if you want to."

"You know, it really doesn't matter to me anymore," Luke said with a shrug. "Yeah, I kinda like how it is now, but. . .it doesn't matter. Whoever you wanna tell, tell 'em."

"Okay, good." Lorelai stared off into space for a moment, then smiled at him. "Huh. What do you know, I think the nagging feeling went away already."

"Good." Luke put his hand under her chin and helped lead her lips to his. As she eagerly returned the kiss, she reached up, removed his cap, and dropped it on the floor. They fell sideways onto the bed and Lorelai maneuvered her body so she was on top of him. She ran her fingers through his hair as she kissed him hungrily.

When she finally pulled back, she sat up and straddled his waist. Luke let out a grunt at the realization that the two layers of denim separating them felt as thin as a piece of paper. His hands slipped beneath her shirt and glided over the soft skin of her midsection. 

Lorelai let out a soft moan of approval and leaned down to kiss him again. His hands slid to her back, his fingertips tracing circles on her skin as their tongues dueled playfully. She pulled back slightly and said, "So, back to my original question. . ." She leaned down and gave him several short kisses before continuing, "Is there any specific way you want the clothing removed?" 

In response, Luke surprised her by pulling her T-shirt up over her head and throwing it across the room. As Lorelai's heart started racing excitedly at the newfound exposure, she noticed Luke's chest was also heaving considerably faster than just moments before. 

Lorelai glanced over at the shirt lying on the floor, then brought her gaze back to Luke, who looked like he was ready to rip her bra off at any second. She smiled and raised one eyebrow. "Okay, so basically we're going with the 'remove and toss' method, got it."

* * *

To be continued. . . .

Author's Note:

Wow, I can't thank you guys enough for all the nice comments. I really appreciate the support and encouragement. The next chapter is pretty much finished; I should hopefully have it up in a day or two. :)


	10. Part 10

"Mystery Woman – part 10"

* * *

Luke felt like he was in a daze. Did that really just happen. . .with _her_? The woman leaning against him right now. . . was it really _Lorelai? _He'd pictured that scenario so many times in his head, but had long ago convinced himself it would never happen for real. 

Yet. . .here they were. . .lying in a bed. . .together. And the sound of Lorelai breathlessly moaning his name would forever be imprinted in his brain.

She was snuggled up against him, his left arm stretched behind her holding her closely against his body. His hand was resting near her waist, his fingers aimlessly tracing her hipbone as she stroked the soft hair on his chest. 

After a short silence, Lorelai sighed contentedly. She craned her neck to look up at him. "This is the weird part."

"Weird?"

She rolled over onto her stomach and leaned against his chest. "Yeah. This is where I try to convey to you that the last half-hour was incredible and amazing without sounding like a sappy, stupid romance novel." She smiled and added, "You know, just in case the moans and groans didn't tip you off. . .which I can assure you were not fake."

Though Luke would never let it show, her words made the macho side of him feel somewhat proud. He smirked and shrugged. "Yeah, well, you don't have to say anything. We can just. . .ya know, grin and nod at each other or something."

"Okay, good plan." Lorelai smiled and kissed him. "Be right back." Clutching the sheet around her body, she rolled over toward the side of the bed and scanned the floor. She grabbed the closest piece of clothing, Luke's flannel shirt, and pulled it on. He watched as she climbed out of bed and walked to the bathroom. 

When she emerged a few minutes later, she leaned against the bathroom door frame and smiled at him on the bed. "Hi." 

Luke nodded a hello. "Ya know, that looks much better on you than me."

She looked down at the oversized shirt that fell halfway down her thighs. "It's comfy," Lorelai said. She pulled it tighter around her. "And warm. Now I know why you like wearing these so much."

Luke patted the mattress next to him. "Come back."

"Can't bear to be away from me, huh?" she teased as she walked over to him. She climbed back into the bed and pulled the covers up over her. 

They were both quiet for a minute before he asked, "When are you gonna tell Rory?"

"I don't know. Sometime tomorrow, I guess." She glanced at the clock. "Well, technically today."

"You're not gonna tell her about tonight, are you?" Luke asked. 

Lorelai let out a small laugh. "God, no. She doesn't get detailed information about Mommy's sex life. We're close, but you gotta draw the line somewhere."

"Right, yeah, stupid question, sorry."

"Speaking of sex life. . ." Lorelai started. She sat up in the bed and turned to face him. She spoke quickly. "Um, you don't have to answer this if you don't want to, because Lord knows it's none of my business, but I was just curious about it. And I'm not gonna be mad either way, because you can do whatever you want, it's just something I was wondering about. I mean. It's none of my business, though, so I'll completely understand if - "

"Lorelai," Luke interrupted her babbling. "What is it?"

Lorelai took a deep breath. "Um. . .did you and Leslie. . . um. . .did you guys. . ." Her voice trailed off and she gestured to the bed.

"No."

Her eyes widened slightly. "You didn't? Not even once?"

"Nope."

"But you guys dated for. . ." Lorelai started to say something, then changed her mind and promptly closed her mouth. "Hm."

He sat up. He brushed the hair off her face and offered, "I wasn't in love with her." As soon as the words were out of his mouth, he wished he could take them back. Not because they weren't true, but because he _knew_ they would lead to something he wasn't ready to deal with yet. 

Lorelai stared at him as an internal conversation quickly started inside her head. _He just told you he's in love with you, Lorelai. _No, he didn't._ Yes, he did - he said he didn't sleep with her because he wasn't in love with her. . . but he just slept with you. _So what?_ So, it means that he wouldn't have slept with you if he wasn't in love with you_. That's not what he meant._ Yes, it is – he loves you! _Shh!

Lorelai put aside the small twinge of nervousness she felt and decided to see if her internal voice was right. She swallowed hard and fidgeted with the buttons on the flannel shirt. "So, what, you only sleep with people you're in love with?" she asked in a small voice.

Luke sighed. _Dammit, I knew I set myself up for a question like that. This is what you get for not thinking before you speak. . .and now she's sitting in front of you, asking you indirectly if you love her. What are you gonna say?_

Yes, he loved Lorelai. He had for a long time – but he hadn't planned on telling her so soon. He was afraid of how she'd react to it, afraid she'd think things were moving too fast. 

But he didn't want to lie to her. 

__

Might as well tell her the truth and just hope it doesn't scare her off. 

He put his hand under her chin and tilted her head up. He stared into her eyes as he said, "Yes."

Lorelai's eyes widened and she swallowed hard. _Oh my God. Take a deep breath, Lorelai. Inhale. Exhale. This is fine. He loves you. Calm down. Nothing to get worked up about. _But her heart was racing and she was breathing heavily and she suddenly felt nauseous. _Yes, he loves you. He doesn't just 'have a thing' for you, as so many people used to say – he loves you. Oh my God, he loves you! _Part of her wanted to giggle excitedly, the other part was scared and wanted to go hide in the closet.

Luke was staring at her nervously. _Okay, you just implied that you love her, and she doesn't seem freaked out, which is good,_ he thought. _On the other hand, she's not saying anything at all, which _doesn't_ seem so good. _

He hadn't expected her to say it back to him, because whether she loved him or not, he knew her – he knew that she wouldn't be able to say it this early. He knew she took her time with things like that. 

But he wasn't sure what her silence meant. He reached out and ran a hand down her arm. "Lorelai . . ."

She suddenly realized that she hadn't said anything. She shook her head slightly, trying to bring herself back to reality. "Yeah?"

"Uh. . .you okay?" Luke asked hesitantly. 

Lorelai stared at him momentarily, eyeing his expression. He looked nervous, like he was expecting her to get up and run out of the room at any second. As a small smile formed on her lips, she reached out and stroked his face. "You said yes."

Luke nodded. "Yeah, I did. And I meant it."

Her smile widened and she leaned forward and kissed him passionately. He took that as a good sign and eagerly kissed her back. When their lips finally separated, she pushed him back against the pillow, lifted her left leg over his body, and straddled his stomach. She slowly pulled off the flannel shirt and tossed it behind her. 

His hands immediately began caressing her body, and she ran her fingers over his arms. "So, tell me, how lucky did you plan on getting tonight?" She leaned forward and kissed him, then pulled back slightly. "Please tell me that you were extremely presumptuous and that you brought an extra one."

Luke smirked. "In my back jeans pocket."

Lorelai smiled and patted him on the chest. "That's my prepared little Boy Scout." She kissed him once more before she rolled off of him and went in search of his jeans.

* * *

It was almost five-fifteen when Luke climbed quietly out of bed. He gathered his clothes from the floor and walked toward the bathroom. He glanced back at the bed where Lorelai was snuggled in the comforter, sleeping peacefully, and he smiled to himself. He walked into the bathroom, quietly closed the door behind him, and took a shower.

Twenty minutes later, he walked out, grabbed his socks and shoes from the floor and sat down on the edge of the bed.

As he was finishing tying his shoes, he felt Lorelai stirring behind him, and he turned around. She was awake, rubbing her eyes, and he moved closer to her. "Hey."

She rolled over onto her back and yawned loudly. She reached for his hand and began stroking his palm. "What, were you just gonna sneak outta here while I was still sleeping?" 

"I was gonna wake you before I left," he assured her. "Thought I'd try to get outta here before most of the town starts waking up."

"Hm, good idea." She was quiet as she stared up at him. She tucked her hair behind her ears, then sighed softly.

Luke ran his hand over her sheet-covered thigh. "So, uh, last night. . . "

Lorelai smiled. "Was something that I want to happen again. Preferably soon."

"Glad we both feel the same way," he remarked.

She sat up and pulled the comforter up around her. "I should probably get up soon. I have to walk home and change, then come back to set up for the convention."

"Well, come on. Get up now and I'll give you a ride," Luke said.

Lorelai giggled. "Dirty."

Luke rolled his eyes. "Just hurry up."

Stifling a yawn, Lorelai pushed the covers off of herself, and she shivered as the cold air hit her body. "I really need to talk to the manager about turning up the heat." She pointed across the room. "Can you get my jeans?" He walked over to get them and tossed them on the bed as she gathered the rest of her clothes and began getting dressed. 

As she walked in to use the bathroom, Luke put on his cap and coat, then picked up his toolbox and waited for her. When she walked out, she walked over to him by the door and kissed him. She pulled back and leaned against him, resting her head against his shoulder. 

He brought his one free hand up to stroke her back, and she let out a content sigh as chills ran up her spine. "Mm, I love when you do that," she muttered. 

As she placed several kisses on his neck, he cleared his throat. "Uh, ditto." Lorelai pulled back and smiled, then kissed him again. He ran his fingers through her hair as he deepened the kiss.

When they finally pulled apart, Lorelai gathered her things that were lined up by the door, then reached for the doorknob. Before she opened the door, she turned back to him. "You don't think anyone'll see us driving together and get suspicious, right?"

Luke shook his head. "It's only 5:45. I think anyone who'd care about this kind of gossip is still sleeping." Lorelai still looked uncertain, so Luke added, "And even if they do see us, so what? We're gonna be coming out soon anyway, right?"

Lorelai gasped. "Luke, you're gay?" She shook her head disappointedly toward the floor. "The secret girlfriend is always the last to know." Luke rolled his eyes, and Lorelai smiled. "Sorry. Yes, we're coming out soon."

"Right. And Rory's basically the only one who should find out about it directly from you."

"Yeah. . ."

"Which means that she's the only one you need to worry about seeing us, and I highly doubt that she's up this early," Luke pointed out.

"True. . .okay. Good point." Lorelai kissed him again before she finally opened the door. They stepped out into the hallway, went down the back staircase, and walked out into the back parking lot.

* * *

Lorelai walked into the house just before six o'clock. She peeked into Rory's bedroom, and like she figured, she was still sleeping. She brought her things upstairs and collapsed on the bed. She lie there half-asleep for awhile before she finally decided to get ready for work. 

When she'd finished showering and dressing, it was almost seven. She walked into the kitchen and put on some coffee, then walked to the doorway of Rory's bedroom. She knocked lightly on the doorframe. "Rory. . .wake up." 

Rory didn't respond, so Lorelai walked over and sat down on the edge of the bed. She rubbed Rory's back. "Honey, wake up."

Rory rolled over onto her back and opened her eyes slightly. "What do you want?" she mumbled.

"I'm home," Lorelai said.

"Yes, I see that. Goodnight." She closed her eyes and rolled back onto her side.

Lorelai tapped her on the shoulder. "Come on, get up."

Rory groaned. "Why?"

"I have to talk to you," Lorelai said. 

"Can't it wait until later?" 

"I'd rather tell you about it now," Lorelai said. "Come on, please? I'm making some coffee. Come sit at the table." She stood up and walked out of the room.

She walked to the coffee maker and poured two cups. As she brought them to the table, she called, "I don't hear you getting up."

"I hate you," Rory called back.

"I know. Hurry up." Lorelai sipped her coffee, and a moment later Rory walked into the kitchen. Lorelai smiled. "There she is – how's my baby?"

Rory pulled her robe tighter around her as she sat down at the kitchen table. "Tired. Now what's so important?" She blew lightly on the coffee in front of her, then took a sip.

Lorelai took a deep breath. "Okay. Um, well, I wanted to tell you something that's. . .well, pretty important. You remember that guy I went out with the other night?"

"Yeah?" Rory prompted.

"Okay, well. . . um, I wanted to talk with you. . .about him."

Rory frowned. "That's what you had to wake me up for? To talk about a guy?"

Lorelai nodded. "Yes. . .but this guy. . .well, I wasn't exactly forthcoming with you about him." 

"No?"

Lorelai shook her head. "No. Uh, he's actually. . .someone that you already know. Someone that you see almost everyday."

Rory gasped. "Oh God, is it another one of my teachers?"

Lorelai shook her head. "No."

Rory sighed. "It's my chemistry teacher, isn't it?" 

"Rory, it's not one of your teachers."

Rory yawned and rubbed her eyes. "Then who is it?"

Lorelai cleared her throat. "Um, it's. . .well, you're not gonna believe this, but. . .it's kind of. . .uh. . ." She started chewing nervously on the inside of her mouth. "Luke. It's Luke."

Rory's eyes widened. "Luke? Our food-serving, diner-owning Luke?"

Lorelai slowly nodded. 

Rory shook her head in amazement. "Wait, you went out with _Luke_ and you didn't tell me? Why would you lie about that?" 

"Well, uh, in my defense, I don't think I ever technically _lied_ to you about that, because really, you didn't come out and ask me if I was going out with Luke," Lorelai pointed out. 

"But why wouldn't you tell me something like that?" Rory asked. "We share everything."

"I know we do, and I really hated not being able to tell you, but. . ." Lorelai exhaled loudly. "Look, it goes back to when I realized that I was jealous of Leslie. . ."

"Oh, so you lied to me about _that_," Rory interrupted.

Lorelai held up her hand. "No, hold on, that wasn't lying – that was me in denial. It's different."

Rory rolled her eyes. "Go on."

"And Luke saw that I was jealous and he asked me about it and we both just kinda told each other how we were feeling," Lorelai explained. "It was one of those corny but sweet 'I wanna be with you, do you wanna be with me?' moments." She glanced down at the table and smiled to herself. "And we both said yes and we. . .kissed."

Rory smiled and tilted her head. "Awww, Mom! How could you not share something like that with me? That's huge!"

Lorelai nodded. "I know, it _is_ huge. Which is why we wanted to be sure that it would work out between us before we let anyone know about it. I mean, you know how it is – sometimes two people get together and they realize right away that it's not gonna work out."

"Uh huh."

"So we didn't want everyone to know we were together just to have us break up soon – then things would be so weird," Lorelai continued. "For me, for him, for you, for the town. . .we didn't want people to treat us differently or act strange around us or . . ." She shrugged. "We just didn't want things to be weird. So we decided to keep it a secret until we were sure that it would work out."

Rory took a sip of coffee as she took in Lorelai's explanation. "For how long?"

"What?"

"How long did you keep it a secret?"

"Only a week," Lorelai said. "It started last Friday. And yes, I kept it from you – but only temporarily. I'm still sharing everything with you, it just took a little while longer to share this particular piece of information than usual."

"Uh huh." Rory was quiet a moment. "And you're telling me now, which means. . . "

Lorelai smiled. "Things went very well in that one week. I mean, we had some great chats on the phone, an excellent date. . .things were working."

"So you guys are together now?" Rory asked. "Out in the open?"

Lorelai nodded. "Yeah, we don't really care who knows now. You're the first one to find out, though." She paused a moment. "Are you mad?"

Rory shook her head. "No, I'm not mad."

"Disappointed?" Lorelai suggested.

Rory shrugged. "I just can't believe you wouldn't tell me something that big."

"But you understand the reasoning, don't you?" Lorelai asked. "I mean, we just didn't want things to be weird."

"I know, I know," Rory replied.

"Speaking of which, you don't feel weird about how things are now, do you?" Lorelai asked. "I mean, me and Luke. . .together."

Rory gave a half-shrug. "Not really. I always kinda figured it might happen one day, you guys going out. He's liked you forever."

Lorelai smiled. "Yeah, well. . ." She glanced at her watch and gasped. "Oh, shoot. I have to go." She jumped up from her chair and kissed Rory on the head. "I'll see you later, I love you, goodbye."

"Love you, too," Rory said.

Lorelai grabbed her things and rushed out to the Jeep. As she pulled out of the driveway, she took out her cell phone and dialed the diner. "Luke's," Luke answered.

"Hey, it's me," Lorelai greeted him.

Luke smiled at the sound of her voice. "Me who?" 

"Uh, me, the gorgeous woman you slept with last night."

"I'm sorry, you're gonna have to be more specific," he replied. "Help me narrow it down a bit."

"Wow, I'd come over there and slap you if I wasn't already running late," Lorelai said.

Luke smirked. "What's up?"

"I just told Rory."

"You did? How'd she take it?"

"She took it fine," Lorelai replied. "She was obviously confused as to why I would keep something like that from her, but I explained it and . . .she seems fine with it."

"Good, that's good," Luke said.

"Yeah, so, I'm heading to work right now, I'll probably stop by after I'm done setting things up," Lorelai said. 

"Okay."

"Bye."

"See ya."

* * *

It was an hour later when Rory walked into the diner. For some reason, Luke felt slightly uncomfortable as he watched her walk to the counter. He nodded toward her. "Hey."

She smiled at him as she slipped onto a stool. "Hey." They stared at each other for a moment before she said, "So. . .Mom told me about. . .you know. . ."

Luke nodded. "Yeah, she said she mentioned it to you."

"Did she come for breakfast?"

"No, she called."

"Oh."

"Sorry about the. . .you know, keeping it a secret and stuff. We just wanted to – "

"No, it's okay." Rory waved him off. "She explained it to me, it's fine."

"You sure?"

"Yeah. And I'm glad that you guys are. . .you know, dating." She smiled and added, "Finally." 

Luke smiled and nodded appreciatively. "Thanks."

"Though I'm not glad that she woke me up at seven to tell me," Rory added, rolling her eyes. "I guess she just needed to get it out."

"Yeah, it was bugging her keeping it from you," Luke said. "She knew it was for a good reason, but still. . .she didn't like doing it."

Rory nodded understandably.

Luke tapped his hands on the counter. "So. . .you want breakfast? I can whip up some chocolate chip pancakes."

Rory smiled. "Sounds good." 

* * *

An hour later at the inn, Lorelai and Michel walked out of the dining room into the lobby. Lorelai handed him a clipboard. "Okay, check on them in a little while. And make sure all of the wedding guests check out on time."

"Why can't you do it?"

"I told you already Michel, you're the one who booked two big events so close together, you're the one who has to man them. I only came in to make sure everything got set up okay. Now I'm gonna go through the mail from the last few days and then I'm outta here," Lorelai said.

"But – "

"No complaining," Lorelai said. Michel huffed and shot her a dirty look as he walked to the front desk. Lorelai walked to her office and sat down at her desk. She started looking through a stack of mail, but her thoughts kept drifting to last night. 

Random images of the night flashed in her mind. Luke pulling her shirt off and throwing it across the room. Her unbuckling his belt and pulling it out of the loops. Him pinning her arms to the bed as he kissed her. . .God, that drove her wild. Him unzipping her jeans and pulling them off her. Him slowly removing his boxers with that sly grin on his face. 

Him holding her when it was over. She'd never felt so safe than when his arms were wrapped around her. It just felt. . .right.

Lorelai closed her eyes and remembered the feeling that surged through her body when he said "Yes." All he said was yes – it was a tiny little word, but what it represented was huge. He loved her. Why wasn't it scaring her? Why wasn't it making her feel sick? Why wasn't she ready to freak out and call the whole relationship off?

She folded her arms on the desk, then rested her head on her forearms. Thoughts were running through her head. Thoughts about Luke. Thoughts about herself. Thoughts about them being together.

She was still thinking things over a few minutes later when there was a knock at the door. She lifted her head, smoothed out her hair, and called, "Come in."

The door opened, and Rory stuck her head into the room. "Hey."

Lorelai smiled. "Hey, what are you doing here? Come in, shut the door."

Rory did and walked over to the desk. "I just wanted to see if you needed help with anything. I was hanging out with Lane but then she had Bible class, so I was just kinda walking around."

"And ended up here."

"Yup. So. . .need anything?"

Lorelai glanced down at the mail in front of her. "Um, for work, no. But I do have a very deep urge to rant and need a good listener."

"Oh, boy," Rory muttered. She sat down in a chair and folded her hands in her lap. "Okay, go ahead."

Lorelai stood up. "Okay, so I was thinking things over. . .you know, things with Luke. . .and I was just running through my head some of the time we spent together, and I started thinking about the time that. . .he kind of told me he loved me."

Rory's eyes widened. "What? Wait, what do you mean, 'kind of told you'?"

"Well, he didn't come out and say, 'I love you,' but I sort of asked him if he did and – " 

"Wait, what do you mean, 'sort of asked him'? How do you sort of ask him?" Rory asked. 

Lorelai sighed. "Okay, I said I needed a good listener. You should know by now that good listeners do not keep interrupting the ranter – it disrupts the flow of the rant."

"Sorry, but I can't be a good rant-listener if I don't understand what you're ranting about," Rory pointed out. "What do you mean, 'sort of asked him'? You either did or you didn't. What did you say?"

__

Well, hon, after Luke and Mommy had sex, Mommy asked him if he only sleeps with people he's in love with, and he said yes. Oh, too much information? Sorry. 

Lorelai shrugged and shook her head. "I can't tell you the exact wording because it's. . .well, I just can't. . .so we're just gonna have to leave it at 'I sort of asked him'. Okay. . .please?"

Rory gave a confused nod. "Go on."

"Okay, well, I asked him a question," Lorelai continued. "And it was a yes or no question, and if he said no, well – it wouldn't necessarily mean that he _didn't_ love me, but it wouldn't have been indicative that he did." Lorelai paused. "Are you confused?"

Rory nodded. "A little."

Lorelai sighed. "Okay, let me think about how to clear it up." She paced in front of the desk for a few seconds. "Ooh, okay, I have it. Let's say you and me are sitting in the car, and I ask you something like, 'Do you only sit in cars with people you like?' If you say yes, I can interpret that to mean that you like me, right?"

"Right."

"But if you say no, then that doesn't necessarily mean that you _don't _like me," Lorelai said. "It just means that at some point or another, you sat in a car with someone you didn't like. . .but that doesn't necessarily mean it's me. The yes answer is pretty much a sure thing, the no answer is a toss-up. Get it?"

Rory nodded. "Got it. Very good explanation."

"Thank you. Okay, back to the story. . ."

"So it's a story instead of a rant, now?" Rory asked.

"Eh, it's kinda both," Lorelai replied. "Anyway, so, going back a little, at first he made this comment that I sort of interpreted as an indirect way of saying that he loved me, but I wasn't sure. So, in my own indirect way, I asked the aforementioned yes or no question – and if he answered yes, it was pretty much him saying, 'Yeah, I love you.'" She paused and took a deep breath.

A small smile formed on Rory's lips. "And he said yes?"

Lorelai nodded. "He said yes."

Rory's smile widened. "Aw, Mom, he loves you! Of course, me and half the town already knew that, but it's nice that you finally figured it out."

"Wait, I'm not done," Lorelai said.

"Sorry, go on."

"So I'm sitting here thinking about how he said it and I'm realizing that it didn't freak me out," Lorelai said. "Yes, I admit that at the time, it did scare me just a little _teeny tiny _bit. . . but not enough to fall into the category of freaking me out, which is weird. I was actually more excited than I was scared, for once. It's strange."

"It's strange that you're happy about it?" Rory asked.

"Yes, because it usually makes me nervous," Lorelai admitted. "I mean, you know. . .I freak out with things like that. . ."

"I know."

"And to hear it so soon in a relationship. That alone should've made the freak out even more intense, that he said it after only a week."

"Yes, but he's – "

Lorelai held up her hand. "Wait, not done."

"Sorry."

"So I'm sitting here trying to figure out why this time was different, why it didn't freak me out. . ."

"Okay, the phrases 'freak out' and 'freak me out' have been widely overused during this rant-slash-story hour," Rory pointed out.

Lorelai ignored her. "And after some very heavy thinking. . .I finally figured out why it didn't. . . " She leaned forward and said the words indignantly, "Freak - me - out."

Rory rolled her eyes. "So what's the conclusion?"

Lorelai took a deep breath and closed her eyes momentarily. She opened them up and started wringing her hands. 

Rory stood up and put her hands on Lorelai's shoulders. "Well?"

Lorelai swallowed hard. "I love him." She shook her head and let out a surprised laugh at hearing the words aloud. She patted herself on the chest. "Me. . .Lorelai Gilmore. . .loves someone. Who woulda thought, huh?"

Rory smiled and hugged her tightly. "Aw, Mom. That's so . . ."

"I know. . . scary." 

Rory laughed. "I was gonna say great."

"Yeah, well, that, too," Lorelai agreed. They pulled back from each other, and Lorelai shook her head slightly. "I love him. Oh, God, that's . . .this is. . .wow."

"Wait, so you're just figuring this out now?" Rory asked. "Which means that . . .when he said it to you, you. . ."

"Didn't say anything back," Lorelai confirmed.

"Yikes."

Lorelai nodded and nibbled nervously on her thumbnail. "I know."

"Are you gonna. . .well. . .you know, tell him?"

Lorelai shrugged. "I don't know. Should I? I guess I should. Yeah, I probably should." She grabbed the stack of mail from her desk and handed it to Rory. "Do me a favor – go through this and pull out all the bills, then put them in order of due date. Then just leave the piles on the desk."

"Got it. Go." Rory kissed her on the cheek. "Good luck."

"Don't say that, it's _bad_ luck," Lorelai said. She grabbed her purse and jacket. "Bye." She walked quickly out of the office, through the lobby, and out into the parking lot.

* * *

Five minutes later, Lorelai walked into the diner and called, "Luke, where are you?" 

The customers all turned toward her, and Luke, standing at a nearby table with a pot of coffee, held up a hand. "Uh, right here. What's wrong?"

She walked over and grabbed his hand. "Come with me." She started pulling him toward the door.

"Whoa, whoa, whoa," he said. "Hang on." She stopped long enough for him to set the coffeepot down on a table, then pulled him out the door onto the sidewalk. When they got outside, he pulled his hand away from her. "What's going on?"

Lorelai walked down the sidewalk a little more, and he followed her. "Lorelai."

She turned around and stepped close to him. "Luke, listen. I was thinking about last night."

Luke suddenly felt nervous. He shoved his hands into his pockets. "What about it?"

"I was thinking about what you said. . .when you said yes, when you implied that. . .ya know," Lorelai said. "Remember?"

__

Shoot, it did freak her out. Dammit. "Yeah, I remember," he muttered.

Lorelai took a deep breath. "So I was thinking about it, and I just kept picturing you saying it, and I kept remembering how it made me feel and – "

"How _did_ it make you feel?" he interrupted.

Surprised by the question, Lorelai blinked a few times before she replied, "Good, uh, it made me feel good. And I realized that I didn't really say anything back to you about it, and so then I was thinking about how that might have made you feel."

"It's fine," Luke waved her off. 

"No, it's not fine," Lorelai said. "I mean, you put your feelings out there, in a way, and . . .what did I do? Nothing. I just . . .I should have. . ." She took a deep breath. "What I'm trying to say is – "

Realizing what she was about to say, Luke held up both of his hands. "Stop."

Lorelai frowned and took a step back. "What?"

"Don't say it," Luke said. "I don't want you to say it just because I said it. Or, implied it, or whatever."

"I'm not. I'm saying it because I mean it," Lorelai insisted.

"Right." Luke folded his arms across his chest and cocked his head doubtfully. "Lorelai, come on."

Lorelai scoffed. "Come on what?"

Luke rubbed her shoulders. "Just forget it. It's fine, it doesn't bother me. I'd rather leave things the way they are than for you to say something you don't mean." 

Lorelai scoffed again. "You honestly think that I would stand here and tell you I was in love with you if I didn't mean it?"

Luke shrugged. "I don't know – would you?"

Lorelai glanced down at the sidewalk. "No, I wouldn't," she replied in a small voice. She took a deep breath and brought her gaze back up to him. "And I came here to say. . .you know, that. . ." Her voice trailed off. 

Luke took a step toward her. He brought one hand up to her face, and Lorelai leaned her cheek against his palm. He brought his other hand up and stroked her cheeks with his thumbs as he stared into her eyes. "You're not just saying it? You mean it?"

Lorelai nodded. "Yes." She draped her arms over his shoulders. "You know, I hear that 'yes' is the new 'I love you'."

"Oh yeah?"

Lorelai nodded and pressed her lips against his, kissing him deeply. Softly cradling her face in his hands, he ignored the fact that they were outside, and he eagerly returned the kiss. As she pulled back, Lorelai whispered, "Yes." 

Luke smiled and slid his hands down to her waist. "Yes."

Lorelai glanced around and saw some of the townspeople watching them. "Um, I think the secret's officially out."

"Good." Luke pulled her closer and kissed her again. 

When they finally pulled apart, Lorelai rested her chin on his shoulder. He slipped his arms around her waist, resting his hands on the small of her back. She closed her eyes and let out a content sigh. She'd never felt so safe than when his arms were wrapped around her. 

It felt. . .right.

* * *

The End

Author's Note:

Okay, I'm sorry, I'm just not good at ending stories. Really. "It's Right There" was supposed to end with chapter 8, but I didn't know how to end it, so I just kept writing and writing and writing until it sort of ended itself. I need to work on things like that.

Anyway, thanks so much to everyone who's been reading. Much thanks for the encouraging reviews, I really appreciated the support throughout the story. :) 


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